Entry 24: #TheQuarterStory in full circle

Birthdays are but traditions; nothing but annual rites.

We indulge in these rituals to celebrate an intangible marker of when we first engulfed our first share of air.

Many traditions have died or have evolved into something else. But birthdays remain celebrated. I think I understand why.

Some believe that the day of birth does not equate to the beginning of our spiritual journey or the start of our purpose in life. Yet I find it amusing how our physical bodies grow, how fractions of a second eventually comprise a vast fabric of time, how we experience minute moments, and how we store those into memories.

Birthdays are sentimental and we are human. Perhaps, that’s why we choose to romanticize the idea.

In the recent years, I have been trying to capture the days of my 20s. When I was 23, I bought a humble digital camera and started “366 Days”; a project where I took one picture a day. At most, I was able to take 62 photos. I did not succeed. The following year, I was poised to see the task through. Onwards with my pink mobile phone’s 8MP camera, I proudly completed #ProjectYear24. 

Last year, I took on #TheQuarterStory for my 25^th year.

Tomorrow #TheQuarterStory will come full circle. With around 200 photos in Instagram and a few blogs here and there, it can be said that the mini project has met its goal. It has fairly captured the essence of my Year 25.

I moved to development work, relocated to Ilocos Norte, learned a different dialect, occasionally ate sea urchins and seaweed when served on the table, worked under the impaling heat of the Ilocos sun, and found love in the arms of someone special. To me, #TheQuarterStory has been an inspiring year. It taught me to continue nurturing my passion and maintain eyes that are always open to possibilities.

Blessings are the people who love me. Gifts are the people that I am fortunate to love. I thank God for everyday miracles and I am grateful to everyone who has been with me in the past year.

Tonight, #TheQuarterStory will close and pave way to a new chapter. I hope and pray for colorful, open horizons and countless dreams realized.

Tomorrow, I will wake up to an ordinary Monday. Deep in me, though, I know I’ll think otherwise—not too ordinary, not too regular.

Let’s go, wonderful and epic Year 26!

Entry 23: My Anniversary at Basa Pilipinas

Entry 23: My Anniversary at Basa Pilipinas

364 days have passed and it’s April 16 once again: same month, same day, different year.

It’s been a year living in Ilocos Norte but it feels longer than that. I can start listing the reasons why I find being deployed here so inconvenient. Being 14 hours away from home tops the list.

Like so many people who feel caught up in the grind, I successfully fell blind of how much of a blessing the past year has been.

It’s easy to fail being optimistic.

364 nights were mostly spent with my face glued to my phone’s or laptop’s screen until I fall asleep. Not much night life, not much friends, not much energy left after a day’s work. Weekends went by working. If not at work, I sleep through Saturdays to recover from a tiring week. And of course, weekdays were consumed … at the office or on official business.

For a time, I felt stuck not being able to physically be with my loved ones. Thank God for technology.  I was a hair strand away from praying for time travel or teleportation.

It’s easier to rant; to see the uglier side of things.

Then again, like many who have come before us have upheld, “easy” is not an ingredient of fulfillment.

It’s fulfilling to see that the same kids who could not even identify syllables a few months before are now reading stories fluently. It’s heartwarming when teachers receive us warmly in their communities. It’s humbling when our office updates us of the number of schools we have reached.

None of those came easy. And when I take a step back, the truth is, none of those also felt like work. In fact, no matter how stressed or wired we all were, we’d still always tag majority of our days as fun!

Learning a new dialect, discovering less traveled roads, experiencing their food, and living their culture – I was blessed to have been deployed in the Ilocos Region. I was even more blessed to have six officemates-turned-family to share the journey with.

The perks did have their banes, though.

There are so many moments when I would also wake up praying I was in Manila, working in the morning, eating out with my boyfriend, and watching late night movies with my parents before I sleep. In fact, I already found myself one day, on the verge of resigning and moving to another organization closer to home. But the circumstances aren’t as generous. Perhaps, the time is not yet right.

In those trying times, when the stinging feeling of missing the warmth of my loved ones’ hugs or hearing their non-Virtual cackles kick in, I just remind myself what I’m here for. I guess, the time to go home has not yet come.

364 days and counting … for tonight, I rest from the day’s work and the year's musings happy and fulfilled. J

Entry 22: Unearthed Thoughts

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Composed by my 24-year-old self circa 2013

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Realizing our Full Potential

Roxy Rolle

"When I grow up, I want to be..." When we were younger, our parents used to finish this sentence for us. In second grade, I answered this with "Teacher". Clearly, that defied what my folks wanted me to say--they wanted me to be a doctor.

In college, I chose a communication course. At the time, my parents still wanted me to be a doctor but (1) they could not afford Medicine School, and (2) I do not have the guts to gut people.

Nonetheless, they were content with not having a doctor of a daughter as long as I graduate on time sans being a teenage mom. I gave my parents that--and a few medals upon graduation.

With a bright resume, many expected me to enter publications, advertising, and journalism. Once more, I was deviant of their expectations. I am not in any of those fields.

"When I grow up, I want to be..." and "After graduation, I will be..." have long been standards of career success. While those might have worked in the past. That is no longer appropriate at present. Those two only prematurely define the youth to shape themselves into available professions.

Children who want to be engineers are motivated to excel in Mathematics. Those who want to be doctors need to be good in the Sciences. Aspiring writers have to build their portfolio early. These are stereotypes. In many ways, forcing kids into stereotypes limits the youth from realizing their full potential.

We live in an age where job titles are as varied as the multiplicity of mobile phones and gadgets. As such, we no longer have to make ourselves fit into a profession (if I want to be an engineer, I have to be good in Math; etc). Rather, professions are now available to fit our expertise. Thereby, all that's necessary is to ensure that we become the best of who we can be--not because we have to be but because we want to.

I used to define myself as a writer. Since I was young, I take pride in my command of the English language. Now, I am 24. I am not a writer by profession. I tried. Financial constraints moved me to choose other more lucrative options. Seven months after graduation, the corporate arena became my resolve in a young industry called BPO.

BPO is enjoyable, fresh, innovative, global, and relatively dominated by young executives. The youthful energy is exciting and inspiring. It feels like school--yet this time, people pay for my ideas.

For me, BPO is where I found equally excellent yet uniquely brilliant people working for diverse goals. Above all, what I appreciate about this field is that I need not define myself based on my skill or profession.

Yes, I can fairly write. Yet my career's success need not be measured anymore by the by-lines embellishing my name. I now find fulfillment in seeing our share of ideas be transformed to daily innovations.

I used to feel bad about leaving the newsroom. Now, I understand that writing is my skill. Ideas are my unlimited resources .... and BPO is a new avenue that we all shape and continuously define. I have found BPO as a free-thinkers' Utopia.

I hope more jobs and industries like this develop. This way, kids of our era need not force themselves into stereotypes.

Let's get excited in this new age where the only ending to "When I grow up, I want to be..." is "a person whose full potential is realized".

Entry 21: Should I finish my fill?

Getting a By-line for a Day

Sleep-deprived and fatigued, I woke up late to a busy morning. When I opened my phone, two messages from the same number flashed, an unregistered number at that.

The message went along the lines of, "nice piece in Inquirer", ... "reason to get up most mornings" ..., and at the end of the message was a seven-letter name to denote who the SMS was from.

My boss. More of, our boss!

Imagine my delight that (1) my piece was published in Inquirer and that (2) the first person that I know who have read it was the Chief of Party of our organization.

So I guess, readers would pardon me immortalizing the moment with this entry. If you have time to spare, hope you'd click on the link below and feel my thoughts come to print:

Should I finish my fill?

Cheers! :)

Entry 20: Project Year 24 Day 317: Last Stretch

Project Year 24 Day 317: Last Stretch

The world borrows magic from coffee. I'd like to believe that.

A lot of my life's milestones happen before, during, and after caffeine.

Today, right after my second cup, I got a call from a previous workmate, #W. He's still with IBM but in a different department.

I was offered to be mentored in a communications-related role. It would have sent my heart leaping if not for the fact that I've already resigned from the company last week. I can't take the slot anymore unless I retract my resignation.

#W said something in the lines of "impact", "passion", "admired", "project lead". It's been a year, I think, since #W and I shared a corridor and around 2 years since we worked together in a short stint. Needless to say, his call came as a surprise!

I was touched and flattered that he (1) remembered me and (2) thought of considering me as a mentee. Tempting as this opportunity is, I know to what my heart beats for.

When I signed my resignation letter last week, it's with the heaviest of heart. Up to the last few days, IBM still gives me compelling reasons to stay. The opportunity cost of not taking this is a bit high. But I'm going to take that risk.

This won't be me turning my back on something great. This will be me understanding that I am needed more elsewhere. Somewhere far. Somewhere North. 

A greater passion beckons. I choose to heed the call.

If my path leads me back to the corporate arena, though, I'll know my way. To the company I've found friends in. I've grown with. I consider home. :)

Entry 19: Making the Millenials Stay

Making the Millenials Stay

My mom has always been a highschool teacher for as long as I can remember. She has spent decades in the same school. At present, she can still say she's happily employed. I could not imagine myself in her shoes though - perhaps, nor can people my age.

After graduation, I jumped into three jobs within the same year. Thousands of yuppies share the same story. Notre Dame Colleges Online Program found that 91% of Millenials, those who were born between early 1980s and early 2000s, expect to stay in a job for less than 3 years.

After three Christmas parties, yuppies resign. Pretty gutsy?

Who can blame them? The odds are statistically in their favor. In fact, studies show that one third of Millenials can find a job in less than a month! If a young professional finds reasons to resign, there is little chance he or she will stay unemployed for more than a month.

Because of this, employers look for ways to break the three-year resignation timeline. They've been racking their brains for strategies to keep their yuppie employees.

As a yuppie myself, I think I have a simpleton yet true-to-the-core answer: value and growth.

First, Millenials need to understand the value they bring into their work - not just for the company, but for the community, their stakeholders, and their country.

In the Philippines, the BPO Industry stands as the catch basin for many yuppies looking for a job. While the BPO world offers exciting and fresh solutions to old world problems, the nature of BPO work is routinary. Baby boomers and Gen Xers may have been fine with putting up with routine work but the Millenials lack such tolerance.

Millenials embrace change, enjoy updates, and prefer newer versions. They learn faster and get bored easily. Hence, when office work turns into clock work, Millenials look for reasons to stay. One good reason to compel them to stay is to make them see that behind the fabric of clock work is an intricately woven output or service that benefits (1) people, (2) communities, (3) or the environment.

Sure, it's convenient to pull up old tricks: raise their salary or add more benefits. But that won't work in the long run. Millenials are "new dogs". Old tricks won't sustain them. 

Rather, I suggest internal motivation. Fire up the Millenials' drives by opening their eyes on their value. Show them how much value their work brings and how much MORE value they can bring if they grow WITH the company.

This brings us to my next point: Growth.

Grow the company, institution, business, or what-have-you by growing the people. Millenials are all for "level up" skills, knowledge, and expertise. Give them that leverage and they will be like smartphones - ever inspired to be better every second.

This is my message to the employers on why you need to keep the Millenials: This is the generation that will define the flow of the century. It would suck to know that you've had the next Steve Jobs or a Social Media genius under your wing AFTER you approved his or her resignation letter.

Entry 18: The Better Choice

Project Year 24 Day 28: The Better Choice (June 3, 2013)

Often, lunch hours are spent with my two colleagues picking on me. In many ways, they make me feel like I have bully elder brothers (i.e. Kuyas). Not having a brother sucks. That's why the comforting feeling of having quasi-elder siblings makes up for the occasional moments of being a prey. For lack of creativity, let me call these colleagues, A and G.

Today's bullying topic is about my pick on who to marry or choose as a life partner between hypothetical Dude 1 and Dude 2. To be more specific, here's how these dudes were described to me:

Dude 1: Presentable and is not fortunate in all his business ventures (hence, good-looking but broke); and

Dude 2: Homey and owns a duck farm, which A and G so fondly call "itikan" (hence, homey but loaded).

In essence, probably A and G just wanted to prove a point that women often pick men who are financially stable for practical reasons. Had we been in the 1950's, that point could have won in court. In this age, though, that is no longer a popular battle.

Women marry late, lead companies, go on battle fronts, and drive trucks. Most women today do not need men for sheer financial stability. Nothing has ever been more apparent than that since the 1990's. While that is a glorious thing for the female population, it is slowly becoming a bane for men.

In many instances, I have seen men who found it hard to rise above their egos when their female partners earn more, fight harder, and drive wicked wheels. While this may be a trivial concern, in the long run, this is going to be a cancer that will ruin a man and a woman's relationship.

Why do most men find it uncomfortable when their female partners have higher paychecks? I am no male, thus, I cannot speak on their behalf. The best that I can do is to theorize.

My hypothesis, just like yours (probably), is that the male ego is caught in the status quo. Society expects fathers to provide for their families, eldest son to take over the family business, men to be better drivers, and so on. Essentially, society defines the alpha male. In return, men probably want to "meet" that definition.

Therefore, I have high respect for men who have found their way out of this antiquated status quo. I applaud men who are not burdened by the idea that their partners may be more successful than them in terms of career, finances, educational attainment, or skills. This just reflects how secure they are of their own strengths and that they are happy for the accomplishments of their female partners.

This should not be an excuse, though, for blokes to just watch their ladies bring home the bacon. That's not commendable, that's irresponsible. Rather, I urge men with powerful lady partners to use the fact as their motivation to succeed further.

The bottomline is, "men and women are equal". If the girlfriend or wife is the head of the company and the husband is still just a manager, then, it's time for him to pick up his pace. If the scale is not balanced, it will tip off.

Most women today no longer just pick who can save them from the dragons. Rather, they choose those who will slay the dragon with them, side-by-side. 

Therefore, between Dude 1 and Dude 2, who is a better option? Trick question. Just like how exams usually go, "not enough information to arrive at a conclusion". In this case, the better choice is not to choose at all.