After the Immigration officer gives you one last appraising glance and hands over your passport, you let out your breath, basking in the wave of relief that envelops your being as you made across the first major 'hurdle' of becoming an International Student in the United States.

Like any other proactive International student you would probably have contacted other people from your community in the university for help and advice on cheap housing and scholarships. Possible you might get some help in one form of the other. Enthusiatic and a little scared, you attend some of the mandatory orientation sessions and mingle hesitantly with other students; however soon.......you're more experienced countrymen inform you about the uselessness of these sessions. You comply with their advice to skip them, Instead, spending the time working with your class schedules and arranging sessions with IT, Dining services and other college role positions for jobs, however this might be temporary until you get that elusive tution reimbursement or scholarship.

So what's wrong with this scenario? nothing..... except the fact that this what millions of other Indians or Internationals are doing. The information age is fast coming to a halt and the era of Peter Drucker's invaluable 'Knowledge Worker'is fast evolving to the 'Age of Wisdom'/'Conceptual Age'. The competition has reached new and possible unknown heights as evidenced by the depth of present corporate layoffs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_worker

To become the highest earner It is important to cultivate new and possibly intangible talents; but what are they and how can we cultivate them and why do they have to be cultivated?

1: Leadership - Contrary to what people believe, Leadership is not something that is 'easy'. A common perception is that Leadership is the right of those who are the most intellectually astute. However, something that is quickly imposed upon employees about mid career is 'Leadership and Management training'. It is either scoffed at or brings a degree of self awareness or enthusiasm to the attendees. However, Leadership cannot be picked up in one training session. Like any other skill it is cultivated after rigorous practice and cultivating it mid career can be harder on employees who are accustomed to a life time of habits.

Action: It thats the case why not start early ? Become an active member of campus and join an organization. This does not mean being recruited and attending the first two meetings. Instead go out and find a cause you are passionate about. Many students are aware of clubs that subscribe to their tastes and in order to EXCEL AT ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO BE PASSIONATE ABOUT OR DEVELOP A PASSION FOR IT. From Political groups to Literature and movies the list goes on.

One of the richest and most fulfilling experiences in campus leadership is the Resident Assistant/Advisor position. In most schools, its a fast track way to adopt and learn leadership practices. As a veteran RA and present Resident Director i've seen people change and mature way ahead of their other peers. The position helps enhance time management skills, emotional intelligence and gradually eases you into taking more responsibilities. Needless to say its not a job to be taken lightly, instead you will be tasked into dealing with students and their families will see you as their conduit to taking care of their kids. In addition, RA's get financially compensated. This opportunity is usually available to students in their sophmore year.

2: Community Service "Without Selfless Service, No one ever receives the fruits of their rewards" - Guru Granth Sahib

Many Indian/International students take their graduate studies extremely seriously and let go of activities that they otherwise would partake in. Community service, religious activities, talent shows, community outreach, political activities and fundraising. All these are rejected in favor of academics, and this is not to say it is not important and shouldn't be the first priority. Many feel compelled to bury hidden talents and callings because of the need to focus all of one's energies on achieving the highest scores in academics which more like than not (a pure grade of 100% is not considered as highly as a 95% with community work and evidence of Leadership roles). It is what brings out the humanity in people as opposed to functioning machines with limited out-of-box (purpose) thinking.

Machines can be replaced, their functioning becomes obsolete and they are replaced for newer models. Only when some kind of service to humanity is attempted, do you focus your energies on expanding you mental maps and facilitate continous learning.

Action: Every town has a centre where people feed the homeless,all schools have events where they Fundraise for cancer and work for habitat for humanity. Some of these fundraising events are attended by prominent business people and corporate leaders who recognize efficiency for what it is. Of course if you attend the events for that reason alone you are bound to waste your time and the communties. If they don't exist CREATE THEM

3: Respect for cultures and diversity - Many Internationals always insist on being tolerated for their differences while remaining intolerant of the host country's values and culture. This attitude can become dangerous on a fragile economy and corporate culture that is slowly coming to realize the strength of team play and empathy. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable with your own peer group. However, actively avoiding the company of other ethnic groups due to an inbuilty disdain of their values tends to narrow one's perspective and in order to succeed one needs to be aware of other people's perspectives in a increasingly flattened world. Understanding is not a sin, making decisions based on that understanding is what makes people unique and looking at the world through other people's eyes is one of the most touted skills of SUCCESSFUL business leaders (eg: Bill Gates)

Action: These is a by product of actions one and two.

4:Sports - Camraderie,character and values are easily recognizable by team oriented, adrenaline fuelled events. Just because a home sport (eg: Cricket, Soccer etc) is not played it does not mean one is too old to learn another cultures sport. If you've ever worked in the American corporate world, Sports is a bonding topic that helps the most powerful CEO relate to the fresh fased Engineer.

Action - The benefits of sports are too numerous to list in this article. But it is imperative that a mixture of muscle and cardio activities become a daily event in your life and what better way to have fun doign it by playing a new sport.

5:Regulate you Accent - If you ever become a mentor or teacher to american students it is imperative they understand you. Refusing to change your accent because of misdirected national pride is a disservice to your students and any renumeration you get. There is no need to adopt a texas or brooklyn drawl however some effort should be taken to regulate your accent to make it easier to communicate to people. One of the most important hallmarks of the most successful people on this planet is that they are master communicators. To view a example of such an accent, watch the CEO of McKinsey and one of the world's most successful business leaders speak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw-omf0oHzo

Action: There are accent coaching classes and relatively inexpensive programs that, with a little bit of research, can help you.

6:Read!- Make reading a habit. Reading good books allow you to take in the experience and wisdom of other people's perspectives. As i mentioned before its not the knowledge you possess that makes you unique in this world, its the decisions you make that register you as a person of consequence in this world.

Action: Take two days each week to browse the 'non-fiction' section at the local Barnes & Nobles.

It is important to make these actions habits and find your meaning in them as opposed to looking for 'instant rewards'. Every consequence in this world piggy backs on long term 'repeated' actions and if you've made it this far in life you will understand its importance.