August 11, 2007

Confessions of a Long-Lost Drama Queen

Saturday, August 11, 2007 Posted by Mary No comments
Hmmm.



I think I should start blogging again. And on that note, I think I should fill in the gap of what has happened to me between my last post and today.

I did get offered a position in AWS. I was scheduled for an interview in Cebu which I did not attend not only because it was in conflict with my finals, but also because I was just not interested. So you get the answer to my confusion in the previous post--I followed my heart.

We finished our graduation project just in the nick of time and I graduated cum laude, fulfilling my parents' dreams. This award does not really mean that much to me because of the fact that I know there are some people who receive it even if they don't deserve it, and some people who don't get it even if they do deserve it. I don't measure intelligence by any award. If you're good, you're good. People will eventually see that even if you don't have a medal to show for it. But at the end of the day, the award made my parents happy, and that was a relief for me. Of course, it looks good on the resume, so that's one nice thing about it.

There was a software company opening in Dumaguete, so I applied for that immediately after graduation. It turned out that they had some glitches, so they were not able to push through with the branch here, yet. With my desire not to leave the city, I applied for the one and only call center with a branch here. I've always been intrigued about this industry, so I gave it a go. Training was strange, and I had a lot of adjusting to do. A few weeks after I signed my contract with them, I was offered to teach part-time at my college in Silliman. I did not want to resign just less that a month after taking the job, so I turned down the teaching offer. I've always wanted to teach, but at the same time, I wanted to try out call centers. There was a difference in the pay, too, so I put the teaching offer on hold.

I've never lived my life with regrets, and I'm not going to start now. But as it turns out, I don't like the job that I have now. I'm just going to be honest here--I'm not used to being put down, and I don't like it, because I never put people down. But in the customer support industry, you get put down, and there's a lot of racism going on. I'm not even going to elaborate about that, but I realize now that this is not a job for someone as strong minded as I am.

Do I regret the decisions I've made so far? Not really. My optimism and my desire not to dwell over past decisions are two of my best qualities. I'm glad that I was able to learn my lesson this early in my career. Now, I'm just waiting for the time to explore something that I believe I would really love--being in the academe.

Life goes on, and I know that at the end of the day, it's not really your career that matters the most. True, money is important, but as an only child, I've long learned that all the material things in the world will not mean anything if you don't have anyone to share it with. For me, people in my life always come first. Thankfully, I've been blessed in that aspect. I have supportive parents and great friends. I have nothing to complain about.

It's easy to be negative and to always complain about things. But you know what, life is what we make it. And it can be truly wonderful if you live it with passion, optimism, and of course, faith in God.