Negotiate your future by Michela Secci

There is one reason why, in my eyes, Eada was the best fitting option for my future. It was the only business school among the ones I was really interested in, that offered a clear description of the Professional Development Program, in which the students could learn different soft skills, in order to be not only academically prepared for a job but also ready for life as people. During the last module we had the chance to work on the acquisition of negotiation skills, and the fact we had it exactly at that moment, provoked in me some reflections.

We passed the first trimester trying to find some free time for ourselves, completely busy between class and exams preparation, and asking ourselves if we would ever be able to relax for a day. This term something has changed; everything seems to be easier, we are able to manage the daily hours better and we feel more confortable with the school pressure. But the time that we are saving is still not completely free. Once we are done with daily routine, the thoughts about the future start crossing our mind continuously. Meeting with career advisors, applications for exchange or graduate programs, or internship, or jobs. In these moments we are led away, we think of different options for our lives and like in “Sliding Doors” we try to face what will happen next if we take that decision, if they accept us, if they give us the job.

The only fact we can know for sure right now is that everything is going to change soon. We are a little bit scared of not getting what we are dreaming for, but at the same time we are excited. The truth is that we know who we are; we know what our value is and what we are getting ready for. Now it’s just a matter of time to reach those goals and putting in practice those skills we have just learnt. This is going to be the real time for negotiations.  The big issue here, is that this time it’s not going to be just about negotiating our willingness against others, but mainly with ourselves.All the different choices we have will open up different doors, and from the same doors will enter new people in our lives, new people we will share new experiences with, new emotions and new expectations. How can we know what we are really willing to compromise? How can we know right now which is the road that will lead us to satisfaction in our souls?We probably would never be able to know which is the best opportunity for us at the moment, or maybe the best opportunity just doesn’t exist; we believe there’s always a best way for anything but in the end what will make us happy is the balance we can find between what we are giving and what we are taking from it. We have to set some priorities in our lives, some full stop we can anchor our values to. Then we should negotiate our willingness to take some life paths with these values, understand if they will fit in the long term, and if they are really helping us to keep growing in the future. Nothing is secure. Nobody will be able to tell us if we are going on the right path, because nobody can know ourselves better than we do.It’s time to be sure to fully understand who we are and be ready to fight. The competition will be high. More and more young people now really want to make it, but by focusing on reaching our objectives with also a little bit of intuition, we will be able to surf that big wave that is arriving really fast.