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Alumnus Advice: Burning Bridges Is
For The Near-Sighted
by: Muhammad Amir
Alumnus
Many, many
moons ago, I went
out on a date
with a girl in our
beloved faculty.
Long story short: It
was a bad date.
Not a big deal,
right? Well, in hindsight, no.
Of course, explain that to the bratty,
melodramatic malcontent who
assumed control of my body through
a greater part of my tenure at SFU. If
my reputation precedes itself (which,
admittedly, part of me still hopes it
does – I was a campus celebrity until
last month when I graduated), you’ll
know that I can be a jerk. I’ll admit
it. Sometimes, just for the fun of it.
After all, what do you expect from
someone who took the public forum
(via The Buzz; via The Peak) to rip
on ex-girlfriends, administrators,
and professors – sometimes even
by name? I’m not proud of all those
moments, except the infamous
“Sonnet” article (that was pretty rad),
but I’m not going to deny them. So
given my public persona, it should
come of no surprise that my private life
was full of its own sins.
Oh yeah, I took people on. I called
them out, and let them know what’s
what. To let it slide was a virtue into
which I would later mature…to my
detriment.
Okay, so we’ve established that I
was, at one point in my life, a jerk. I’m
reformed. I’m mature. It’s all dandy,
right?
“some of those people you
may have not gotten along
with, might actually be in
positions of power”
Well, not exactly. Remember all those
people I upset? They have no reason
whatsoever to come around and
forgive me. They owe me nothing.
This is significant, because, the new
world of Facebook and Google is
small. Very small. Grade school peers,
teachers, summer flings - everyone
is awaiting your arrival to reality. And
some of those people you may have
not got along with might actually be in
positions of power… including the type
of power that can considerably help
you.
“The lesson is simple and
the fruits of its rewards are
plenty”
Now – I must warn you: Authenticity is
good. I’m not urging you to be friends
with everyone, or have 1,000 friends
on your Facebook in order to hedge
your bets for the future. If you’re one
of those types, 990 out of those 1,000
friends will think of you as a complete
phony… and no one likes a fraud.
But, what I am suggesting is that it is
15
stupid to be burning bridges or souring
a relationship to the point where you
do not speak to someone (and the
other person will not speak to you) if
you two meet each other randomly.
Really stupid. Whatever the beef is, it’s
not worth it. Trust me.
“Life is too short to hold
grudges or not to make
nice”
Life is too short to hold grudges or not
to make nice. In the end, whatever
your disagreement with someone
probably won’t matter in a few years,
let alone a few months. So why bother
yourself with bad relations that can
hamper your own social freedom for
any amount of time?
In short: Don’t burn bridges. The
lesson is simple and the fruits of its
rewards are plenty.
When Ms. Bad Date put in the good
word for me with a potential employer
– good enough to score me an
interview – I breathed a deep sigh of
relief, “I am so glad I never told her off
after that miserable date!”
As far as the interview itself goes…
Well, I’m no longer in the business of
libel, so we’ll leave it at that.
tell the world! do you or a fellow SFU Business student have news to
share?
e-mail your triumphs in case competitions, sporting events, or anything business-related to
buzz-editor@sfu.ca
July 2007