The Emancipation of Jun-jun

I’m a college drop-out and I still have around a year and half to go before I’d get my diploma and bachelor of arts degree done. But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to get this thing accomplished anytime soon. Well if you still don’t know, I now work in a company that has an atmosphere of a school.

Yep! It feels like I’m back to school at this point, with the big number of colleagues that I have to deal with everyday. It’s like a University where we have to study computer stuff and all the troubleshooting steps that would help all our supported devices work. We even have our team captains, who are just like our college instructors– coaching us and teaching us the right things to do, for us to be an efficient and capable agent.

I sure hate school because, we are graded and ranked accordingly to some formulas, that would supposedly tell us about our diligence, and our mental wits and abilities.

In the company that I worked with, every single thing that we do is graded as well. And we have monthly evaluations on how we fare and how we delivered during the period.

I sure am confuse about how am I gonna deal with this present situation that I’m into. One of the very reasons why I stopped schooling is the fact that it is so grade-centered and it doesn’t see an individual as a unique being, with different level of learning reception and comprehension. I hate the fact that you have to make an extra effort to put in all the unneccessary materials taught to you on your tiny brain, just to make sure that you get a perfect score on your exams. I hate the fact that teachers miss the chance of evaluating the improvements made by a certain person and how far he or she has gone over the course of time. And I just hate competition and I don’t see a thrill in it!

Well I’m stuck here, and I have no choice but to go with the flow. I’m not really happy where I am right now, but I sure will try to enjoy every single minute of this stuff that I’m into. And like in school before, I’ll try to be at least a middle-performer in this field. I may not be on top, but I sure will never be at the bottom.

Year 2006 has been a rollercoaster ride for me. There have been so many ups and downs along the way and I have experienced things that I never thought I would have to bear and that I would have to accept as part of life –that I should just let in and learn from.

There have been lots of negativity that surrounded me that year as well, but there are so many things that I need to be thankful for and there are experiences worth taking. In fact these experiences are so special to me that every single idle time I”ve had, I’d go think about it and just reminisce every single moment of it.

The 3-week stay I’ve had in CDO (where I had to undergo PIP - or the Progressive Immersion Program of our company) is by far the most exciting thing that happened to me last year. If ever I had my own year-end countdown featured in one TV show on the tube, I’d placed that one on the number one position. For the first time in years, I’m on my own again, battling the hustles and bustles of a stranger city, which I have learned to love. It was indeed hard to cope up with our workloads and our schedules then, but the beautiful people that I’m with there made all that much easier.

My housemates there were terrific. I just love reminiscing our cooking sessions, eating pancit canton and sardines during dinner together, the never-ending whines and complains about our company and our TC’s everyday, going out for the first time in the city proper (not knowing where exactly to go),  our so-called rift/disputes (whatever that may be) with our other housemates, etc.etc.

That was an experience I’ll never ever forget in my life.

And how can I forget our trip to Iligan and Linamon, where we braved the falls of Tigano and Maria Cristina. It was a saturday and sunday then and I have never had a fun-filled, exhilirating and grand weekend like that for years. I’ve been to the most beautiful place in Northern Mindanao then with the most beautiful people that I could think of (in our company of course).

Every night when its time to sleep, I always sneak into the pictures we’ve had in those amazing places and just think about the wonderful memories. Its an effective stress remover just like my favorite music.

Back to reality. Back to Davao. Its all work and nothing more. I can’t even talk long enough to my ex-housemates now. sigh! It a fact of life, I just hope I’d be able to get through that same feeling again and be reunited with them in that same place or in another place perhaps.

As for now, I’d have to be contented with just pictures and with daydreams.