IESE, Harvard and Joy: win or lose, it’s a win.
Just about a couple of hours ago, I submitted the last of my applications for a PhD fellowship overseas. This one is for the possibility of continuing my doctorate at the University of Navarra. I do not want to end this phase, one that is invariably dependent on luck meeting opportunity at the crossroad, without thanking everyone who helped me go through the process of submitting applications that are well over 200 pages when the submitted application proof meets the printer. I wish to thank my five recommenders who, by writing their letters of recommendation, have made our lifetime mentorship official.
Nevertheless, I am happy where I am and what I am doing with my life now. It is not one without its struggles, but it certainly gives me a renewed faith not only about the world around me but also in my notion of selfhood. A sense of personhood that now needs to be stronger than ever because I finally have the rare opportunity to create and share knowledge to those who, in the future, I wish would lead us to even greater heights. My doctoral studies this term combined with my teaching responsibilities give me a kind of joy that invigorate me each day morning I wake up to it. I treasure its moments, its challenges, and its wins. Being instrumental to the formation of minds and hearts devoid of ego and pride is thoroughly inspiring. It makes me smile, laugh, and enjoy life in its awe-inspiring simplicity.
Should luck and opportunity and the blessings of my Creator and those whose intercession I ask for my wildest dreams to come true make it possible for me to conquer fantasy make the impossible happen, then I would gladly accept the calling and embrace it fully and wholeheartedly. Should these wildest dreams not occur, nothing is lost as everything great has already been gained and more to come, I believe.
Wherever the roads lead me, I promise to serve and push the boundaries that have so long limited the potential of many. They say that to think is to create. The past months have been about more than just thinking; it has been about dreaming and achieving them one wish at a time.
The choices I have made in my life may seem bizarre to some especially with regards to giving up a life of corporate success in the pursuit of greater knowledge that we can create and share for the good and welfare of more — ideally all — people. Now that may sound something too idealistic for some, but it sure seems like how we must function, every day, in the real world. I think that one could never go wrong being on the right side of knowledge under any given circumstances.
If these fellowship applications were like a game, then I’d say this: win or lose, we can rest well and celebrate the fact that it has already been won even before the final verdict is cast.
Again, thanks a lot to those who have given me support towards my doctorate, my professorship and even the possibility of winning a fellowship in the future. You have made my idealism grow stronger just as my sense of reality has become more grounded in real aspirations for even the loftiest goals of a better world and a better life for all.
Paul John M. Peña 