My Socially Constructed Reality

My father-in-law passed away in Dec. 19 -- a few days before Christmas 2011 Margie, Luz, Daniel and Helen with their mother whom we fondly call "Inang" It was Christmas 2011-- but there was no gift-giving, no ham on the table, no games for the kids, no Christmas carols, and people's faces were mostly painted with sadness.  Christmas 2011 was not a "merry" one for my family, but it was a very meaningful Christmas that made me realize a lot of things that are important in life. My father-in-law whom we fondly call "Tatang" passed away in Dec 19, a few days after he was diagnosed with leukemia.   Tatang in the hospital while struggling with leukemia Seeing how hard it was for my mother-in-law and her daughters and sons, including my husband, to accept that Tatang has already left the family, I couldn't help but cry, too.  Amid the merry-making in other places, here's a family grieving for having lost Tatang.  I knew it wouldn...

My blog since 2006-- napabayaan since I entered the social media industry.  Too ironic.  Kung kelan nasa social media ako every day, ngayon pa napabayaan ang blog ko :-(

This coming school year, Stef will be in high school.  Now, as a parent, one of my big concerns is finding the best high school for her -- at least within our area.  Definitely, Stef would be out of AUF.  After scouting on some high schools, I realized AUF-IS is too expensive for its quality.  Ok lang sanang mahal kung mataas ang quality in terms of instruction, but AUF seems to me a money-making university.  I was able to compare, for example, graduation fees:  sa public school, Php300; sa Holy Angel University, Php1,900; sa AUF, Php 3,975.  Nung tiningnan ko yung breakdown ng grad'n fee nina Stef, nagulat ako dahil Php 975 ang bayad sa graduation pic -- 1 copy of 8 1/2 X 11 at 6 wallet-size photos, two shots lang. Then, ang Yearbook, Php 2,000.  Sa HAU, Php 130 lang ang grad pic at Php400 ang Yearbook. It's so surprising how expensive it is at AUF.  Ngayon ko lang na-compare dahil ngayon lang ako nag-try mag-scout ng fees in other schools....

Congrats, Stef, on your Graduation Day !

Day 1 @ SG: 16 January 2011 (Sunday) * Left Angeles City at 6:30 a.m. * Met my PH colleagues at the airport for the first time:  D'Laarni and Meg :-) * Flight at 1010 H, 5J799, Cebu Pacific Air * We were interviewed by Immigration officials at NAIA, before we were allowed to board the plane.  They were asking for any proof that the company invited us to Singapore for a training.  We realized we had no doscument to prove it, not even a company ID, so we had to bear the interview. * Narin met us at the airport, accompanied us to the apartment, took us to lunch (Kopitiam Food Court, Tampines Mall), and had the apartment keys duplicated.  Narin also instructed us how to take the train in going to the office. Day 2 @ SG: 17 January 2011 (Monday) * 1st day @ Brandtology office * Jerry Foo was the first to meet us.  He let us stay at the conference room, and told us a canteen is available at the ground floor, in case we want to eat. * At around 9 a.m., we wer...

I'm having a two-week training at the Singapore HQ of Brandtology with my two colleagues from the PH.  Here's what made our Day 1 special: Our Day 1 at the company was made more significant by the opportunity to listen to the CEO of the company specializing in business and brand online intelligence.  The very first encounter with him was when he opened the door at the conference room simply to greet all of us. It was a very brief encounter yet I couldn’t forget the kind of energy he has, the smiles on his face that made him look much younger and his presence that communicates authority.  We were a bit surprised when we were told we were having lunch with the big bosses. -- the CEO, the CFO and the Business Development Director.  I must admit it sounded weird at first. Maybe because I haven’t been to a company with CEOs or 'big bosses' inviting ordinary employees for lunch. In the previous company I worked for, the Chancellor never even greeted the faculty memb...

My stay in the academe has been so fruitful, and many times, hurtful, but let me thank all those who made my life in the academe worth it. 1.  First on my list would be my students .  I honestly gained more friends from among my students, than from my colleagues.  The reason is simple:  I have spent more time with them, than with my co-faculty/ colleagues.  Well, all the teachers, all the staff, from the library, to the different offices -- everyone in AUF --  is always busy, that they have no time to really mingle with each other.  Most of my conversations were with students, and many of my concerns dealt with students.  Sa lahat ng AB Comm. and ABMC students, mami-miss ko ang ingay n'yo at talino, siyempre... :-) 2.  Ma'am Elvie.   She's the one who first trusted me in AUF.  Ma'am Elvie was the chair of the English department when I first came to AUF.  I respected her so much, I valued every opinion she had, and looked up...

11 years, 3 months, 16 days. It's  long overdue.  That's the truth.  I've long wanted to resign.  Believe me, my heart knows it. Don't get me wrong.  I love my work as member of the faculty.  Well, I learned to love teaching, as I develop relationships with my students. But along the way, I had to convince myself to believe and make other people believe that there was nothing wrong.  In this world, everything could go wrong, but not everyone is willing to challenge what's wrong to make it right. Many times, people change their belief s, or at least pretend to have changed it,  so they could accept what's wrong, instead of challenging what's wrong to make it right. In this world,  sometimes, when you try to make things right, you become wrong. It's been 11 years, 3 months, and 16 days. I decided I don't want more of these things which I find wrong. Please, let me let myself go.

Background Sometime in July, Jobstreet.com sent me list of job vacancies which are aligned with my degree and experiences.  Well, I have been subscribing to Jobstreet for years and I already have tried applying to some companies in the past, but for some reasons, I didn't get any response.  For some, I got replies and even had interview but I didn't have the courage to leave my full-time teaching job.   So that day, while checking on the list, I saw an interesting position, social media research analyst.  When I read the qualifications and job description, I told myself, "Wow, this must be an interesting job. Something I love doing, and no doubt, I'm qualified. I can do this." So, because I was fascinated with the job description and qualifications, I updated my CV and attached it to an e-mail, then sent to the address given. I can still remember, after clicking on the "send" button, I whispered to myself, "I hope I'll get it." But da...

Leaving the academe after 11 years, 3 months, and 16 days is seen by many as "a big risk."  In fact, when I was processing my resignation form, people asked me "Why?"  Well, of course, it must be an instinct to ask that question, but for them to ask "Saan ang punta mo, Ma'am?" gave me a different picture.  It turned out most employees, if not all, who have left the university went abroad.  So when I answered, "I'm not going abroad.  I'm just staying home," they did not believe me even for a second. For one, I was technically telling the truth when I said I'm staying home cause I was just hired by a company that provides home-based jobs.  Yes, I'll be doing work at the comfort of my own home :-) My colleagues and the VP for Academic Affairs asked me if I was sure about this decision.  And I said, " Yes, I'm happy about it, and I'm excited about finding a new job."  That answer was enough for them to be assur...

I love this virtual office designed by my 9-year-old son using Paint :-)

Dumb-founded. This was how one of my classma tes said he was like while listening to my report in our Strategic Management Philosophies class this day. "Wow!"  I didn't expect that comment.  I actually thought I was the least educated in class, considering most of them are DBA students. My topic was Strategic Management Process , and when I studied for my presentation, I thought, everything was new to me (because my major is Public Administration, and my focus is on Communication)--  the terms, the jargon, etc.  So before my report, I thought, what right do I have to present a topic which most of them already know for sure? Well, what I did was to contextualize all the concepts I discussed.  I used the company where I belong (AUF) to talk about positioning, for example.  I saw a new poster on the bulletin board near the campus main gate just yesterday, and it gave me an idea how to explain the message in the poster -- in explaining POSITIONING as one im...