Good day Prof. Jorge,
Submitting my revised reflection paper.
Thank you.
******
I grew up in a simple family – having meals three times a day, renting a place to live, no car, and no savings account but with the hardwork of my parents and belief that education is the only thing they can give us, my siblings and I were able to finish studies. My Papa worked as an employee at a Tin Can Factory and my Mommy is a medical secretary. Both of them do not have a college degree. During my childhood days, my siblings and I witnessed how it was very hard for my parents to come up with a sum of money just to pay for our tuition fee, rental payment, other school expenses and even the credit list at the store. They often approached my aunts, grandmother, other relatives, their employer for the salary advance of course, and the so-called "5-6." It was always financial matter that concerns our family. Though, we are experiencing financial difficulty, I can say that life has been easy for me. As a student, my primary goal is to graduate on time and with no failing grades, which I did. It is a no-no for me to be a repeater, to fail or to be an irregular student, simply because we cannot afford additional expense. As young as 12 years old, I have been doing small jobs like clinic assistant, bakeshop/gift shop staff, front desk staff and a nanny. The income I earned is not for expense of the family, which I am so proud of my parents because they did not oblige us to work for additional income of the family. The income I earned is for my personal use – to buy bag, shoes or join my friends to watch movie or go to the mall. Mommy always told me that they cannot give us extra money for those stuffs so we better work for it to have it. I am not a selfish sister and a daughter. I share my blessings to them – I gave money to my siblings as payment for their school requirements like payment for journals, membership fee, even gave them extra baon. I even threw a 9th birthday party celebration for my younger sister because her birthday is on the month of May – enrollment time so to celebrate her birthday is always the last priority. I also bought grocery items for our consumption. I also gave transportation allowance to Papa.
When I was in high school, I remember the talk I had with Papa. We were talking about what course to take in College. I told him that I am planning to take up Accountancy. He approved right away and told me to pursue Law – be a CPA Lawyer. Papa is a silent type person so that conversation meant a lot for me. All throughout high school, I am determined to take up Accountancy. During our career orientation and college application, I was half hearted to take up Accountancy because two of my friends will take up Psychology. But still, I remembered the talk I had with Papa so I took the Commerce Entrance Examination. In UST at the time, Accountancy is under the College of Commerce – we will just take an exam at the end of our second year for the major. I took the qualifying exam for Accountancy, Information Systems Management and Business Administration. Unfortunately, I did not pass the qualifying exam for Accountancy but I passed Information Systems Management and Business Administration. Oh no! How will I tell papa that I will not be a CPA Lawyer? I decided to take Information Systems Management (ISM), ano yun? When I told Papa about this, he did not have any reaction, he was not happy, he was not sad either, that made me so much guilty. What I know, he is disappointed. But I have to stand on my decision – I told myself that I will do my best and graduate. I have been working since I finished my bachelor's degree in March 1999. I was employed as an Accounting Staff of a family owned private hospital and eventually appointed as Administrative Officer in 2004. When I started working, monetary compensation is the least of my priority. For as long as I love what I am doing and contributing enough to the expenses of my family, for me those are enough.
In April 2003, Papa had a heart attack. He was in ICU for three weeks and transferred on a regular room for more than a month. We were told that Papa will not recover anymore, that he will be in vegetative state. This is the hardest time in our life, financially – how are we going to sustain the medical needs of Papa, my two younger siblings are still in college and other expenses; emotionally – the feeling that we are just waiting for Papa's time; physically – we should be a care giver to Papa 24 hours a day so we need to do shifting as Papa's care giver. But God is good – He provides. Papa has been working with his company for 26 years and all the financial benefit he can get upon retirement was given to him. We were able to pay our debts from different persons, and save for Papa's needs. Prior to Papa's heart attack, my husband (who's still my boyfriend that time) is planning to work abroad and one of our plans to get married. Another unforeseen event happened, I got pregnant. My husband and I got married in July 2003 – we did not tell anybody that we are married already because we felt it is not the right time. In August 2003, the FX I am riding for work encountered hold up. I then told my husband that maybe it's the time to tell Mommy about our situation. I experienced near death situation and I am holding a secret from my Mommy. When my husband told everything to Mommy, my Mommy just cried. Just like Papa, she did not say anything – I know she was disappointed. Because of that situation, my brother did not talk to me for almost a year. We just got better again when I gave birth to my son – their first nephew.
When my first born turn 3 years old, we noticed that he is so fidgety. We then seek for medical attention from a developmental pediatrician. She gave an impression that my son is ADHD at risk. He was diagnosed to have ADHD when he was 7 years old. It was hard to accept that my son is a special child. But I learn to appreciate him and love him conditionally. He is now 11 years, Grade 6 student in a regular school. I must say that he is doing well in school.
In December 2014, I made a major decision in life which can have a vital effect not only in my career path but also in my family's future. I decided to resign from my work for 15 years to look for professional advancement, career development and greener pasteur. This is a big challenge for me since I have a family of my own and financial stability is a major factor so being unemployed is a risk for me. But with the support of my family and guidance from above, I have successfully passed this transition and in January of this year, I started a new chapter of my career life, a stage that I must welcome unreservedly.
I took 18 Units of Education from July to October of last year and took the exam for the Licensure Examination for Teacher (LET) last March 29. With this benchmark, I validated that I can still achieve a higher level of academic degree such as MBA.
I decided to pursue my Masters Degree in Business Administration at Ateneo Graduate School of Business and also to continue searching for a job. While going to the process of application in my Masteral, I also had pre-employment testing and interviews from various companies. After accomplishing all the requirements for my Masteral, May 14, I received a formal letter from the school that I was accepted to the Middle Manager Program. On May 23, I passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers; this is an accomplishment for me since this will help me pursue a career path as an educator if given a chance.
On May 28, I got employed at Alternative Learning Resource School as an HR Officer. With this job opportunity, I may now continue my professional career and share my learnings and experiences I had from my previous employment. Having all these milestones in a month, I believe that I am truly blessed and fortunate. Also I believe that this is only a start of my long journey. I will be having a lot of opportunities and endeavors to look forward to that will guide me to become a strong and a well-mannered individual.
My New Learning/What I am doing for this topic?
May of this year is the time I considered My Month because I can now see a clear path for my career and my personal goals. I learned that patience is really a virtue. Things should not be rushed off because God's time is never late or never early. God's time is always the perfect time. I learned to adapt to the different personalities, attitudes, culture and the company's goals. I am always grateful for all the good things or experiences that I am experiencing. I am trying to learn and improve my ways for all the failures I made. I did not regret any of my decisions because I always believe that in life one must move backward to step forward. I want to be a blessing to anybody in my own little way. I did not burn bridges with my previous company. I am grateful to my former employer, for I will not be here where I am right now if not because of the learnings I had with them. Being an MBA student is an opportunity for me to learn more and improve my craft. I will be able to acquire learning from the experiences of my classmates and hopefully apply them to my present company and to my life. Also, I will get to meet people that can inspire me. I learn to love life though how hard it may be.
What is the relation to what I already know? / What I will be doing for this topic?
Decisions that I make may be a success or a failure. But I think I must learn from my failures to come up with a better and successful decision. Believe in God's perfect timing. Sometimes challenges in life will make or break us. I am not holding back for the things that I did not do but rather do my best in every situation that I am into. I am now not afraid to do things that I am not used of doing. I went out of my comfort zone to try new and more challenging things. Yes, I may fail. But that does not make me less of a person. Through mistakes, one can come up of a better idea and effective decision. I am not scared to go down one level in terms of salary and position because being a good leader must be a good follower. I know that I must start at step 1 to go up. Sometimes, I must tumble to know where I am right now. I learned to never lose hope and wait patiently because God will never give me situations that I cannot handle. I appreciate life – I do not compare myself from other people who is doing much better than me. I believe that God is planning what is best for me. I may not be as successful as the other but I can be a contributor to the success of others. I learned not to be selfish, share things that I have – experience, learnings and time. I want to be a blessing to other, to help them in any way that I can so they can fulfill at least their littlest dream. I will never stop aspiring to be the best I can be so I can be an inspiration to others. I will try to be a good teacher – to my children, to my co-employee and to the company I am connected with. I will welcome all the challenges, failures, success and everything that comes with it unconditionally. I will always put a smile on my face whatever happens in my life. Be the best that I can be without stepping on others, believe in myself and be grateful to all the things I am receiving and will be receiving. I am now ready to be a NEW ME.
Leader Maricon P. Bangayan
No comments:
Post a Comment