EDUCATION OR EXPERIENCE

The debate between education and experience is quite old. It is very difficult to say what is more important – education or experience, as they both have their own place in a person’s career ladder.

It is said that experience is the best teacher. There is no other great teacher as that of life. It teaches us practical realities of the world. However, having mere experience has limitations. A person with only experience and no education reaches the saturation point in his career very soon.
A professional qualification supports the inherent skills of a person to do his job effectively. It is a very essential to have a formal degree. Most employers prefer candidates with college degrees as they associate formal education with essential characteristics as that of good interpersonal skills, intelligence, good analytical skills, organizational skills etc. Formal education helps employees improve their potential in future.

However, people with mere degrees and no experience may find it difficult to handle the pressure at work and do their job successfully. It is good to have hands on experience of a job along with a professional degree.

Nobody is born with experience. One has to begin somewhere. A fresher may not have any work experience when he/she begins to work. He tries to apply what he has learnt in college while working for the first time. Here, he learns to put theory into practice. The biggest lesson one learns in his previous years of work is the difference between theory and practice. Experience changes people a lot after they start working. It helps them develop and grow not only professionally but also personally. They realize the importance of good communication skills at work and try to improve their communication skills. They also realize the need to keep their subject knowledge updated.

Thus, experience is nothing but education obtained outside the classroom. Whatever we learn outside our classroom trough trial and error is our experience. Both teach us but with a difference. Formal education paves way to experience and both further pave way to a successful life. They help us achieve our full potential as human beings. We need to strike a fine balance of education and experience to lead a successful and happy life. Most employers prefer to hire candidates with fine balance of education and experience.


Furthermore, one should concentrate on identifying and developing the required qualities that help him to achieve his full potential in his career and life. These qualities include intelligence, wisdom, good interpersonal skills, communication skills, analytical skills, organizational skills etc. He should ask himself whether the required competencies can be obtained through the process of earning a degree or can be acquired through experiences.
Education and experience are means to obtain these qualities. Developing these qualities is more important and not the means.

Thus, both formal education and experience play a very important role in a person’s career and life. They help him develop the inherent qualities in him which help him achieve his full potential as a human being. They both have their own distinct place in their life.

SIMPLE PAST AND PAST CONTINUOUS

Simple past tense is used when we want to refer to an action or event completed in the past. For example, a. I watched TV yesterday.
b. My friend called me yesterday.
c. He went to Mumbai on Monday.
d. I saw him at the supermarket.

Past tense form of the verb is used in past simple. For example,
Regular verb: watch – watched
call – called
Irregular verbs: go – went
see – saw

Past continuous is used to refer to an action or activity going on at a specific time in the past.
For example, a. I was watching TV at 9.30 pm yesterday.
b. They were dancing at 10 o’clock.
c. You were shopping.
d. He was helping me.

We use ‘was / were + -ing form of the verb’ in past continuous. For example,
I/He/She/It/Singular noun – was watching
We/ You/ They/ Plural noun- were watching

Using tenses alone is very easy. Challenge lies in using different tenses in context with each other. Consider the following example situation.

“ I started watching TV at 9 pm and finished it at 10 pm. I watched TV
from 9pm to 10 pm. I was watching TV at 9.30 pm. My friend called me
at 9.30 pm., i.e., the action of watching TV was already in progress
when my friend called me.”

So here we have two actions:
a. I was watching TV at 9.30 pm.
b. My friend called me at 9.30 pm.

We can combine these two sentences by using the connectors when or while. For example,
a. When my friend called me, I was watching TV.
b. My friend called me while I was watching TV.
Thus, the connector ‘when’ is used with simple past and the connector ‘while’ is used with past continuous.

Exercise:

Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the appropriate form of the verb given in the bracket.

1. I _____ (go) to bed late last night.
2. When I arrived at the office, Jane and Paul ________ (work) at their desks.
3. I _____ (open) the window because it was hot.
4. The phone _______ (ring) while Sue _____ (cook) the dinner.
5. What ______ (you/do) at 6 o’clock last Sunday morning.