Christmas 2009

Christmas this year is a first. My family and I are not strangers to having family members far away during the holidays what with my mom and sister living in the US and my brother, dad and I based here in the Philippines. Usually, mom and sis will celebrate in the US while us three will be here in the Philippines then have a video call with each other during the respective Christmas eves. However, this year, my brother had to fly to San Fransisco on the 24th itself and so left my dad and I to celebrate the Christmas together.

This year, instead of a dual video call, we had ourselves a triple video conference. And though we were separated by distance, I still believe that we had ourselves a family Christmas. We felt the love even across the miles, my mom and I even cooked the same dish! There is much to be thankful for, all my loved ones are in good health and realizing dreams, we are well fed (as evidenced by paunches and double chins) and nicely clothed (thanks to my mom and sis for their generous gifts through out the year). After all, Christmas is a time for recognizing the wonderful gift Christ has given to us and in turn, be thankful for what we have. Though distance separated us,blessings abounded and the essence of Christmas lives on in our hearts.

I hope next year, we would all be in one place for the Christmas season though, as virtual selves cannot really compare with the living breathing real person. But overall, a wonderful Christmas indeed. =)

Heroes

Heroes

I recently watched the CNN Hero Awards 2009 and couldn’t help but be touched by the people nominated and awarded. These people found a way to help their fellow man and our Earth. When the Hero of the Year Award was given to Efren Penaflorido, I felt pride that a fellow countryman of mine received such accolade and honor. His speech, and I am paraphrasing, says that we are the change we want to be and collectively, we are the change the world needs us to be. There is no doubt that he himself lives by these words as testified by the unselfish work he and his volunteers do in helping educating the young, poor people of the Philippines.

As I sat and watched, I am humbled by the Award Ceremony. Even though I have no aspirations of doing anything so huge as to be given any award, I have always been searching for a way to be of help to others. In my graduate studies, we had classes where the subject of helping out popped up. It is during these discussions that I was able to voice out to my self and in public, for the first time, what my problem is with helping out. I want to help out, to give, to be of service to my fellow man and to the world I live in, to be worth the space I occupy. But, there is this hesitation born of inertia, embarrassment, laziness and skepticism that hinders me from doing anything at all to help out. I want to overcome this. I pray frequently for God to let me know how I can be of service to Him. I do not know and this shames me. There is so much pain, poverty and suffering in the world and I can’t seem to go out of my comfort zone to help out. If I can just take that first step, I know I can find my way.

I want to get rid of the excuses I have from taking that first step. I to pray for God for strength.

Damn Good Decision

The night before Rohan and Amit left for Singapore, Rohan and I were talking about random things. With us by the poolside at the AIM Zen Garden were a few people from Batch 4, 5 and Katja, our German ISEP. Rohan and I jokingly call ourselves expats because we were supposed to go to Germany for our exchange program but due to various reasons opted to stay back at AIM for the final term.

As we were talking, both of us agreed wholeheartedly how it was a blessing in disguise that we had decided not to pursue going to Germany for exchange. Although it is without any doubts that going on ISEP would have been a very nice experience, traveling and studying in Europe, going there would have excluded us from the wonderful times we had in the last term of our MBA.

What is it about the last term that more than made up for not having a European Experience? Let me count the ways...

1. Good friends became even closer friends as we had more free time to go out and do fun things like eat out or travel around, time to relax and be more at ease with each other..

2. talk to the people we have not spoken with in the past terms

3. look for jobs/give interviews,

4. know more people from other countries - the ISEP, batch 4, batch 5

5. but most of all, staying back meant we were able to attend the graduation. The graduation symbolized the culmination of our hard work for the past 16 months and we got to feel a sense of completion as we took our oath and received our diplomas.

Staying back meant that we had the chance to say farewell to the friends we have made and to give them heartfelt hugs and handshakes. To personally wish them well and look them in the eye and see the echoing sentiments of friendship.

Staying back meant my loved ones got to see me go on stage and receive the diploma that was the result of their love, support and encouragement.

Although going to Germany may have expanded my horizons, allowed me to have a European Experience and although there is a tiny part of me that wonders how it might have been had I gone, I am overall happy that I stayed back. ^_^

MBA Graduation Speech

Graduation Speech

Katherine Tan

MBA 2009 Cohort 3

It is with profound honor that I stand before you to speak in front of you and my colleagues whom I have come to deeply respect. We all started out as strangers 16 months ago when we first came to this Institution, and now, as we go forth from this place, we look to the people we have spent almost 24 hours of each day with and the strangers became our brothers and sisters, comrades at arms, confidants, and lifelong friends. It felt like going through the eye of the needle these past 16 months. Our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual faculties have been tested over and over to such points that we thought we have reached our breaking points. During those times when we were so tired and wrung out, how we wished we could have added a couple of hours to each day just to cope and accomplish all that is required of us.

Our subjects required us to read mountains of cases, the case rooms demanded our minds to be sharp and our tongues to be eloquent. Our professors definitely kept on our toes. Reports, reflection papers, exams and presentations made sure that we barely got enough sleep and sometimes, not even any sleep. Our stay was literally a rollercoaster ride filled with frustrations and victories, upheavals and calm, trials and compromises and difficulties and fun. It felt like during those first eight months, we just lived to get through each day and thought that the next day is as far as we can look forward to in the future. It seemed that we were constantly hoping that there are more than the 24 hours of each day to be able to do all that we had to do. It certainly felt like an intellectual boot camp.

Listening to my earlier statements, one would think that we only had the bad during our stay at AIM. But that is not the case. For each frustrating moment, there were more than enough joy, calm and resolutions tempered the upheavals, and triumphs overshadowed trials and difficulties we faced. It is through the trying times that we were able to fully see the potential each of us had inside. As we sit here today, we know we are made of tougher stuff. AIM has given us confidence in ourselves and our abilities, shown has what we are capable of, given us a direction on what we want from life and how to go about getting it, and most of all given us the training to go out into the world and hold our own amongst anything that the world may throw our way.

As we go forth from AIM, it is with confidence that I say that we will not be forgetting the past 16 months anytime soon. I think I speak in behalf of everyone when I say that the past 16 months have been very profound. We learned not only from the case rooms but we have also learned from each other. We worked hard but balanced this with playing hard. The confidence by which we state our CP points and deliver our presentations speak of the hard work we put behind them and the poolside is a testimony to how much we have let our hair down and enjoy the unique experience AIM is giving to us.

We came to AIM expecting to learn about how to be managers, instead, we learned how to be leaders. We came to AIM with no thoughts as to who we will meet but we leave AIM having cemented friendships that will last us through life. We came to AIM expecting AIM to teach us how to be successful, instead, we learned what it means to earn success, we came to AIM expecting to be respected for what we are prior to AIM, instead, we learned how to respect others.

Today, we are here to receive our diplomas evidencing that we have made it through. Each diploma represents not only the hard work and sacrifices that we have given, but more importantly, the sacrifices, support and love that we have received from the people who made it possible for us to be here. For our parents who gave us their unconditional love and support in making a dream come true, for our spouses or partners, who endured our absence and continued to give us the encouragement we needed to get thru each day, for the months where we did not hold our children as they grew but have kept us going because what we were doing was for them, and to friends who never got tired of being a friend during times when we ourselves forgot what it is to be a good friend and to our Professors who became our mentors and shared with us their wisdom. It is because of them that we are here receiving this paper. This paper that not only represents the completion of our MBA, but it is a testimony to how much each of us mean to them. This paper signifies how our dream of an MBA was made possible because of these beloved people. To you, we give our most heartfelt gratitude and dedicate our diplomas to you.

Today marks the ending of a chapter in our lives. As we bid farewell to the case rooms of AIM and to each other, we look forward to the beginning of a new chapter in our life. As we go through our life’s journey, expect that the characters in the AIM chapter will reappear in succeeding chapters. As we strive to realize our potentials and to aspire for the best of what life has in store, we know that AIM has given us the right tools to equip and aid us. As we pack our bags and await our flights or trips back home, I know all of us are excited to see what awaits us in the so called real world. Amidst the excitement, it is also with nostalgia and poignancy that we look back and wonder at how our time in AIM just flew by. To my cohort mates, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate each of us for the job well done. It is difficult to say goodbye to each other knowing that it maybe years if at all we see each other again. And so, I would like to end by leaving you with one of my favorite Hindi phrases, fir milenge, til we meet again.

Congratulations.