Israel's Arie Pencovici has summed up the whole idea of graduation when he said: “Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference.” A report by rappler.com reveals that 58 percent of Filipino students do not graduate from high school. While it is true that thousands would finish elementary, high school, and college studies in 2014, still many individuals are left without diplomas and degrees. The month of March signals the dawning of new hope to the country as thousands of Filipino college students exit from the academia and join the labor force. A graduation day is a sweet-smelling, unforgettable moment when one witnesses the harvest of his toil – the four or five years of studying sealed with all its bittersweet memories.

The taste of happiness can be so short-lived, though. As soon as one realizes that graduation is not an end in itself, but a beginning of a long, arduous journey to fulfill one's dream, the next question is: “what's next”? “Where do we go from here?” That's the question of the day. With the current global economic sickness, it seems difficult to answer the question. Are our graduates left without alternatives? An option of going abroad is not a healthy choice these days. Companies abroad are closing operations, and thousands of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) have been laid off and sent back home. Until the global economic headache mellows down, there is not much to expect in living and working abroad. But it does not mean that all job opportunities have disappeared. There are still opportunities waiting for those who are skilled and hardworking.

Back home, the grass has never been greener. It appears that as new graduates start to look for jobs, everyone's chance of landing a decent, well-paid job is getting slimmer. Competition has become stiffer. As displaced OFWs return home, we wonder how they would find themselves in the already crowded job marketplace. Indeed, it will be a survival in the fittest. However bleak the current situation is, there is always a piece of cake for everyone. Let us not forget that our country is blessed with many things other countries don't have. One may not be able to get a job soon until the crisis wanes, but anyone can create a job for himself by turning to agriculture and fishing. Aside from maximizing the bounties of our agricultural lands and fishing sea grounds, people can rediscover tons of opportunities around, but they must begin to think outside the box.

It is indolence and lack of creativity that suppress our capacity to produce new things and improve existing ones. We limit ourselves and we fail to exercise our God-endowed talents because we are afraid to face the unknown and the unfamiliar. Call it entrepreneurship and it is about risk-taking. It should be the national mantra during hard times. Our new graduates should be taught to embrace the beauty of entrepreneurship. A real entrepreneur never runs out of new ideas. Sadly, many of us like to work for others. Many of us fear the idea of working for ourselves, being our own employer, which is the spirit of entrepreneurship. One business guru has said: “If there are no opportunities around, create one for others.”