Short story - Why me?

Jennifer sat in her balcony appearing to enjoy her cup of coffee but inside her, a storm of emotions seems to be gushing through her. She had held immense power in her professional circles as CEO of a leading multinational. Her calendar was full, she was always travelling, meeting people, signing deals and thinking of new horizons but suddenly overnight she was a nobody. One deal went sour and the company stating that she was close at retirement age sent her off with flowers and gifts. Her entire life, her association had been with a single company and now there was a huge void. 

Source of image : https://in.pinterest.com/pin/374432156502373193/?lp=true

A week after her farewell party, she decided to go back to the company to meet her old friends, her only friends, she remembered how they used to connect, gossip and have great fun together. Maybe they could get back again. On her arrival, she was informed that all were busy and was taken to a waiting lounge. For the first time, she sat with other people waiting to be called. As people started moving in, she realized her waiting would be longer and started exploring the area. Things she had never noticed, she started seeing. All the magazines with her photos had been removed, everything highlighting the new Head was visible. Housekeeping staff who were at her beck and call were politely asking her if she needed anything. An hour later, she went inside, her colleagues wished her and asked about her life but all seemed preoccupied. Within minutes, they seemed to find excuses to get back to work. Within 15 minutes, she was once again out of the office. 

On her way home, she broke down. Everything she had worked towards, every bond that she had created and believed had crumbled. Her faith in life was shattered. "Why me? she cried".  

Over the next few days, a feeling of isolation engulfed her. She was thrust into whorls of depression and could not bring herself to see any light. She disconnected from everything and the world disconnected with her.

Few months later, she found herself reading the newspaper and an article picked her attention. The article spoke of large percentage of people affected by depression and how it was a huge cause of concern. There was a forum created by young people to have people come, talk, share and find ways to battle depression. Jennifer connected reluctantly with the forum and was requested to come for the first meeting. She was in a dilemma, she wanted to go but at the same time, embarrassed to let the world know that she was weak. Susie from the forum, kept calling, landed up at her doorstep and eventually Jennifer relented. Her first meeting, she met so many people and their experiences so varied, their journey so painful that she counted her blessings. With every meeting, she connected with people on deeper wavelengths and found that life was full of twists and turns and one had to learn to make the best of each situation. She found people with amazing creativity in the forum but not able to harness it. Her business mind took off from there and she began planning and executing.

With growing confidence, she started her own small company allowing creative people to display their products and over time she had built a brand. Once again, she was flooded with calls, invitation and friends wishing to connect but this time, she had learned her lesson. Change is constant, connect with all but love only who those who will stand by you through thick and thin.  

What careers advice will you give your students entering the workforce in 2030?

We live in a dynamic, ever changing world. With the 4^th Industrial revolution bringing in artificial Intelligence, virtual reality and 3D printers we will witness radical shift in the career industry within 10 years where people with high skills will be easily absorbed and unskilled jobs will be soon replaced by automation. The World Economic Forum mentions that 65% of students entering primary school will land in completely new jobs in the future.

So what career advices could we give our students for their future?

Well, observe the top emerging industries for the future. These industries are going to provide your new jobs.

1.    Artificial Intelligence - The industry projected to be worth an eye-watering $70 billion by 2020.

2.     Drones - PwC says “In Australia, drones are already being used in various capacities like undertaking mining survey work. They are being trialled for parcel delivery.

3.    Virtual reality – Expected to disrupt today’s current entertainment ecosystem.
Goldman Sachs predicts that the whole augmented reality market will be worth $80 billion by 2025.

4.    Wearables – We have seen a rise of wearable technology, from fitness trackers to Apple Watch to Google Glass and Microsoft’s HoloLens. In future, it is predicted that normal-looking earrings will track your heart rate, body temperature and blood oxygen levels, providing you with vital health statistics.

5.    Mobile payments – Amazon recently opened a store ‘Amazon go’ where you all you need to do is tap to enter the store, grab what you need and your Amazon account automatically gets charged. 

6.    Cryptocurrencies – We have all heard of ‘bitcoin’. The virtual currency has the potential to blow things wide open.

7.    Genomics - Study of the entire set of genes found in living things, including humans, plants, animals and even viruses. Break pathing research is going to be conducted in this field for human enhancements. https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/nextsteps

8.    Internet of things – Industry according to Mckinsey Global Institute could generate up to $11 trillion. So, if there’s ice on the bridge, the same sensors in the concrete will detect it and communicate the information via the wireless internet to your car. Your car will instruct the driver to slow down, and if the driver doesn’t, then the car will slow down for him.

9.    Robotics – Already around but now soon to be every home phenomenon.

10. 3D printing - From printing live tissues for testing to complete airplane wings that are lighter and more aerodynamic – 3D printing will continue to push industries to new heights.

11. Service Industries –Thriving as service sector jobs requiring social interaction skills and emotional intelligence will become increasingly important like counsellors, psychotherapists, teaching etc.

12. Space tourism - with the appearance of Virgin Galactic, shortage of rare earth elements on Earth (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17357863) we may in future need space miners, if we develop colonies on the moon and Mars, exobiologists needed to develop food plants.

13. Social network organisers and developers - Personal image and branding will gain prominence as society is more commercialised.

14. Personal fitness trainers, dieticians and image consultants will be required to help people look good and healthy.

15. Entertainment Industry –Will always have high demand and more diverse streams will be added like on- line publishing, multiformat journalists, book digitisers.

16. Business and Law - Reducing financial costs will become more and more important. Financial technologists trained to analyse financial trading will help investors reduce risks and costs.

A wide array of new careers is open for today’s generation. All they need to do is invest heavily into development of 21^st century skills and STEAM learning so that the future shapes up as per their beckoning.

Black Panther and Education? Any takers

Like millions of people, I felt a strange sense of pride on watching Black Panther to see East Africa so progressive and technologically advanced and wished it was true. The continent, nearly 195,000 years old is so varied and so vast with a rich history. The TED talk of Novelist Chimamanda Adichie 'Danger of a Single story' swims before my mind where she warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. 

So when we see Black Panther, what touches us the most?

Humane values of pride for one's own culture, traditions and values, Nowhere does T’Challa feel he is inferior to the developed countries, women empowerment as every women is shown powerful and strong beginning from his mother to his younger sister, Princess Shuri, to his head of special forces, Okoye to his love interest, Nakia and finally believing that good will always triumph over evil and one should not let ego and power come in the path of doing good. 

Further, as a STEM teacher, the technology awes me. The place is hit by a meteorite containing of sound absorbing vibranium which has the property of absorbing all vibration. Thus it is used to create armor and weapons. It does not exist on earth but efforts to create something close is on. Some say, graphene’s probably the best material we have for a real-world equivalent of Vibranium. Graphene consists of a single sheet of carbon atoms that are arranged in a hexagonal pattern. It's one of the thinnest substances ever made. It's both extremely flexible and at least a hundred times stronger than steel.

So why would vibranium not exist? A key element of Vibranium is the way in which it absorbs vibration or energy. If it absorbs, it also has to release it.  Knowing what we do about the law of conservation of energy, that vibrational energy has to go somewhere. So would happens to it? We need to convert the vibration into light. Kakalios suggests a phenomenon called sonoluminescence in which waves are converted to light by imploding air bubbles in liquid.  https://acoustics-research.physics.ucla.edu/sonoluminescence/

http://aetherforce.com/creating-a-star-in-a-jar-via-sound-induced-cavitation/

The next thing that awed me was the high-speed magnetic levitation subway that runs through Wakanda's famous vibranium mine - Maglev (magnetic levitation) trains work by magnetic poles repelling and propelling a train to incredible speeds. Because of the friction-less design, Maglev trains go much faster than traditional ones with much less turbulence along the way.

Japan and Germany have become pioneers in Maglev transportation. Japan’s Chuo Shinkansen, for example, is the world’s fastest train, traveling at a max speed of 375 mph. When Japan hosts the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Maglev trains will have a global opportunity to show off just how futuristic they really are.

Elon Musk is building the Hyperloop, a high-speed, vacuum-powered railway that Musk says will someday be able to carry passengers from New York to the capitol in under 30 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A7GsAPR3J0

While writing the article, I went to to numerous sites to learn about the various materials, technology and history. How about educating our students with the same? Every student today, will have watched the 'Black Panther'. How about giving them an assignment asking them to present the technological wonders and its real life feasibility to the class. How about discussing the humane values and the rich culture depicted? How about comparing Africa today with Africa yesterday? How about 'What if this vibranium is invented? What will be the implications on world's economy and military?

The learning is immense if one wishes to digress from the prescribed syllabus and explore new avenues of learning and teaching. Be an explorer! Be a true educator.