External and Internal Factors that Shaped Me
1. External - what are family, environment school and work experience that shaped you today?
MY FAMILY
My childhood was spent in San Pedro, Laguna, a place where we are quite near Manila (near enough to go there every weekend to my grandparents) and far from it that the air quality was better and there were fewer vehicles on the roads. We still got to play every late afternoon (after our afternoon naps) with the other kids in our neighborhood without anyone getting run over by jeeps or trucks. My parents both had regular 8-5 jobs (most of the time, because there was a time when my father was unemployed) during my younger years, so we saw them only in the morning and evenings, and also on weekends.
My parents always kept us busy with school and extra-curricular activities. They enrolled us in ballet, music, and sports classes every summer. They did not indulge our every whim and made sure we also had chores to do in the house. Although we had help, they made sure we were doing things and not just asking our Nanang for what we needed. Actually, Nanang was even allowed to tell us what to do. This meant she bossed us around also to do the house chores with and without my parents around. This background is what I think keeps me grounded. We did not have a lot of money growing up and I could not get everything that I wanted. One time, I really wanted to get a Barbie doll from a shop and I kept staring at it the whole time. I remember, I did this purposely so my parents would buy it for me. They did not give in, and I walked away without a barbie doll. Maybe I was disappointed and sad at that time, but I realized when I was older why they did this.
My parents loved each other. I only experienced them fighting loudly once, and this was even behind closed doors. Their personalities complemented one another like they were really born for each other. My father is a bit magastos, while my mother is very good at managing finances. My father is a people person and trusts almost everyone, while my mother is the perpetual skeptic. Sometimes the would argue about these things, but they also know how to make up. My father is more aggressive, while my mother is passive and extremely patient so they make up for what the other lacks. Perhaps this is also why my standards in finding a life partner is quite high because I want what my parents have and I don't want to settle for anything else.
SCHOOL, FRIENDS, and OTHER ENVIRONMENTS
I was an average student with average grades during most of my elementary, high school, and college days. I was never the bookish and eager student. I was never a problem student either. Although during high school, I had a reputation of being too talkative sometimes. In highschool I was more active in school. I was part of the swimming team, wrote for the school paper, was a catechist, and student guidance counselor. I had a teacher in high school who made a big impression on me because aside from her being really smart, she was very witty and had a different air of authority. She was the kind of teacher who didn't need to be angry for you to respect her. She was always smiling but you knew from the start that you would not want to see her displeased. She always encouraged me and made me feel that I could do better in school, and this gave me even more confidence.
Being part of the swimming team was also a big thing for me because it taught me discipline and the value of teamwork. My teammates and I were like brothers and sisters and I really enjoyed training because of them and our coaches. The parents also got along well with each other and looked out for each other's children. Whenever my parents were away, one of the parents would always look after us. During summers, I also taught swimming to little kids as part of our team's swimming clinic. This gave me a taste of how it was to have a job and being responsible for it because I was one of the oldest in our group. I was assigned to coordinating and most of the administrative work. Swimming also exposed me to different kinds of people. There were the rich Chinese kids from Manila and the poor but very talented kids from Pakil, Laguna. This taught me how to interact and how to adapt to different kinds of people. I would also say that I developed my self-esteem by being active in school and sports. I knew I had a lot to offer for the world and I was very optimistic and ambitious.
College was a bit different for me because this was in Manila. Coming from the a conservative family and a provincial school, I was first shocked that almost everyone in UST (at least, in my college) were smoking. This might have been a normal thing, but it wasn't in my elementary school and high school. College went by quite fast, and I continued being an average student with maybe above average grades. After graduating, I joined my parents at the family business. I was overwhelmed with so much work because we were a small company but was growing quite fast, and we didn't really have the proper infrastructure or manpower yet at the time. I got burned out after 2 years, and after that buyer told my father that he should fire me, I decided it was time to go. I didn't really think it would be the end of my stint with the business, because I also saw the importance of why it was there and the potential it had. I thought that it was time for me to have a different perspective and also to know what its like out there. I chose to work for Dell Philippines because they had just set up here in the country, and I knew working for a multinational like Dell will broaden my horizons.
The best things I got from Dell was developing my patience, realizing my thirst for knowledge, and the great friends that I met. Working in technical support tested my resolve because I knew nothing about it. I had to study more than anyone else (because most of the new hires already had backgrounds in tech support), and adapt more to these americans who were our customers. Working in sales in my parent's business helped me, but it did not prepare me for the work at Dell. I was used to talking to professional people who have also worked in the industry for some time and I had my father to guide me. At Dell, I was talking to housewives, angry customers, and sometimes very old people. I was also challenged and at the same time was amazed of the new things I was learning about computers and technology.
2. Internal - your values, strength, weakness and how do they affect on how you decide to act.
Being detail-oriented has been one of my values even when I was younger. Some people say I can be a bit obsessive sometimes, looking at the things that sometimes do not have much bearing anymore. Like in my job as marketing manager, whenever there are policies that need to be changed, I tend to look at every little detail to the point that it causes delays. Sometimes, I have to understand that in order to get things done, I must sacrifice going into the details so we can get the changes started.
I have also always been curious to learn new things. Whenever I feel that I am not learning anything new anymore, I turn to new knowledge or skills to get my blood pumping again. When I was in school, I always had extra-curricular activities like swimming and badminton. When I was at Dell, I enrolled myself in certificate classes and lessons in microsoft excel in order to add to my skill-set. I also tried German language classes, surfing, and longboarding. Learning new things makes me feel alive and connects me to different people who I also learn a lot from. I guess this is also why I have no problem adapting to new things and different situations.
Some of my weaknesses are about time management and not being able to set correct priorities in my life. I am also quite emotional and tend to doubt myself sometimes. I understand that these weaknesses can be overcome as soon as I have the correct mindset and consciously strive to work past them. It is not easy, but I know I can get there. I just need to want it hard enough, and to persevere against them. Perhaps always reminding myself of these weaknesses will also help me because when I realize that I am again falling into those traps, I can correct my behavior.
Although my decisions have not been always based on my values, strengths, and weaknesses, they do play a major role. In my choice of a career, my being curious has also helped me decide to stay on with the family business. It has opened me to opportunities that I may not have had if I chose a different career path. It has also given me time to pursue my studies which I have always wanted. Managing a business with lots of challenges has made me resourceful, flexible, and diligent. I have also seen the impact that the livelihood we helped create has had on our employees. I understand now the joy that my father always described to us, of knowing that they were able to send their children to college and now have very good jobs of their own. Their parents may not have had those opportunities with us because we are a small company, but now their children do. It gives you a sense of pride that you were able to help these people. This, I think, is what will drive me towards my future. I would like to be somewhere, or part of something that has an impact on the bigger picture, and not just focusing on myself.
-- Erika Manrique
