ACCORDING to the Chinese, this year will be a very prosperous year because most of the numbers in 2008 i.e. 008 are written facing up. Also, 2008 is the Year of the Rat and the rat is the highest animal in Chinese mythology. But coupled with being prosperous are the usual challenges of course. Challenges are of course natural. Ever since January opened, there have been lots of challenges but they can be boiled to two things – first, an Australian futurist has predicted that in 40 years’ time, there will be another Ice Age and all population has to move to northern Europe. But the more alarming challenge is how to save the world economy from recession.

It all started in 2007 when the mortgage sector in the United States crashed. Now in January, ripples are already felt even as far as Asia. That’s why one of the most lucrative and challenging careers of a high school graduate in 2008 is to take up a career in economics. You don’t need to be in a very reputable school to do that because lots of online colleges offer economic programs. But to be in the crème de la crème and to be offered a job in a Fortune 500 company or in a government think tank in the future, one must go to highly reputable educational institutions such as Georgetown.

You don’t need to be rich to afford being in such institutions. All you need is your brain. You take the academic scholarship and if you are really that determined, you can surely whiz through. By the time you have graduated from Georgetown School of Economics, you will have joined the ranks of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and former United States President Bill Clinton. Then you can be employed at the Federal Reserve. For the next 40 years, your career will surely shine and you may even be appointed as Federal Reserve Board chair.

This post is not about lucid dreaming. It’s all accepting about the realities now. Another challenge that is facing us for example is in the area of infectious diseases. In the 20th century, we have experienced a total of two flu pandemics that has killed millions worldwide – in 1918 and in 1958. With the establishment of the CDC in Atlanta thankfully, potential pandemic carriers such as SARS and bird flu have been contained by the start of the new millennium. But let must not rest our laurels there. We need to be continually vigilant. That’s why a career in infectious diseases can make one a hero.

But in the end, whatever you must do must have passion. Do not force yourself to become an aeronautics engineer or a defense attorney if you are just forced by your parents and if you are not inclined to be one. You will never learn and never concentrate in the end if you do not put your whole passion to it.+