I’d like to share a motivational speech I wrote while taking a professional development class back in 2021.

 

I decided to pursue college because I wanted a future for myself. Yes, money is a factor, but I wanted independence from my family, and I needed to prove to myself that I am capable of anything. I learned that I’m stronger than what I think. I’ve been battling this thing for almost 8 years… It has been a constant struggle but I get back up on my feet every time.  One attitude I used to have was if something was really difficult, I would think that it’s not meant to be. That is not the case. A friend once told me, “If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way,” and that has stuck with me ever since.

 

Business Administration… I choose this program because another man once told me that if I love my job, I will never work a day in my life. That man is my step-father, and he is one my life-long mentors. What I find interesting about this degree is that it unlocks plenty of avenues in life. Not only does it teach you how to maneuver it, but it also helps nurture relationships of all kinds. After I finish my degree,  I hope to find contentment and peace. I finally achieved what I’ve been trying to finish for the past 8 years of my life.

 

Seven weeks ago, I had a different perspective. I thought I knew everything and I defined my worth as what I achieved so far. But after seeing a speech by Andrea Ayala Stull, I can say that “my circumstance does not define my worth”. Going to school isn’t always about learning and memorizing, it is what you make out of it. You’ll find professors who are there to teach, and you’ll find professors who are there to touch your life and make an impact. I look forward to meeting more professors like this, and I’m thankful that I already met one.

grad walk entrance sign

Last week, I flew to Maryland to participate in Grad Walk at UMGC (University of Maryland Global Campus). It took me approximately six extra years to get my Bachelor’s due to being a first-generation college student. My mother, brother, and I migrated to the US when I was 17. Because of this, I had to figure things out on my own.

I tried to decorate my cap, as I’ve seen plenty of graduates do that. It’s still a work in progress, but I plan on posting it once it’s done.

I’d gotten a one-bedroom basement via Airbnb, and utilized Turo for a vehicle. I honestly was very anxious about this day, and when there were only a few days left, I was panicky and relieved at the same time.

photo of graduate at UMGC

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I arrived in Maryland I found it cold. My overpreparation was highly justified, seeing as I lived in a state that contained no temperature variety.

As I waited in line to be called to walk, I met the President of the school, Dr. Gregory Fowler. One of the staff urged me to take a photo with the President when he saw me staring at him for a long time. It felt surreal. He was a celebrity to me, and I finally was able to meet him.

graduation ceremony Aurora and Dr. Fowler

They played videos on the screen which I believe were the commencement ceremony videos, the links to those are below.

Here’s the link to the Grad Walk video. 

Here’s the link to the online commencement gallery.

My advisor told me that I’d love myself more when one day I’d wake up, finished with my degree. Although today I can proudly say that I’ve finally attained it, I feel like I’m not done yet. As I turn to finish this chapter of my life, I am thrilled to start the next one.

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Many things happened in 2021. I moved three times as it took me a while to find a place I call home. Living in California isn’t exactly cheap, so I’ve had to find places that fit my lifestyle and budget.
When I arrived in the US in August 2020, I worked at a medical device company for a year while I was awaiting to finish my Bachelor’s degree. My support system mainly consisted of Filipinos, as my therapist said, “because they are the connection to your past”. I scrutinized the good and the bad of the company, such as the leadership, advancement opportunity, and work culture. The work culture was great, and leadership was up to par, but the advancement opportunity was nonexistent as it was a small company. I moved further south and ventured for work that better fit my background.
I found a temporary position at a furniture manufacturing company. Call myself lucky; I had gotten the position in a week. The job requirements helped me harness my skills and fulfilled my search for challenges. One thing to point out was working with another coworker who was headstrong. I respected her as much as I could, but when one thing did not go her way, a professional tantrum was thrown. It was astounding to know that even with that attitude, she managed to stay with the company for a long time. She had the department head Their department, however, did not excel in innovation. Only if it was her idea it flourished, but if it wasn’t, it was rejected. Learning from my previous classes at Cal State San Marcos, I held on as I told myself that I’m no quitter. The department head offered me to stay in the first few months, but it seems that our group never left the storming stage. My last phone call with my Department head confused me, and soon after, HR called me. It is time for me to go. Irritation first took place, then excitement thereafter.
I was finally going to focus on my schooling, and I would graduate sooner.
Fast forward 6 months, I have one class left. Because of the strong support, I am receiving from the VA, I enrolled to get my certificate of Computer Information Systems in California Institute of Arts and Technology.
I’m ecstatic to begin this journey.

Would you say that a thirst for knowledge is a weakness? Most people say it’s a strength. It’s quite different for me.

There’s an abundant amount of information on the web that’s accessible to anyone who searches them.

I clip articles using Evernote and forget to read them. I assign a tag to read them, but I don’t set aside a day to do them.

I’m following so many feeds on Feedly, and I don’t necessarily read all of them.

This is when prioritization comes in.

I made it a point every night to check my Feedly and Evernote. So far, I have more than whooping eight thousand notes, and it needs to change. I need to consolidate my marketing notebook.

My organize notebook went down from 250 notes to 35.

I unfollowed people on Youtube.

I unfollowed blogs on Feedly.

There are so many projects that need to get done and are more critical. Sometimes documentation takes so much time, but when you need to show your work and its results, will you have time to learn more about what’s happening in your field?

Balance is key.

 

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels

I had the privilege of working with 4 team members for one of my classes at CSUSM. Below are things that I’ve learned. The background story is that there is no leader, so you need to learn how to communicate and get along. It is quite challenging. Decisions don’t depend on one person. Making decisions are based on democracy. There are many more things besides this that trumped me. Below are 10 of the most important things I’ve learned.

Take the time to learn everyone.

This is when emotional intelligence comes in. It’s essential to know how to speak to people and approach people in their own way to minimize tension and have a cohesive team. In most cases, a cohesive team makes working in a team more enjoyable. Invite your team for a casual fun time and talk about their working style. This goes a long way.

Always validate someone’s opinion.

Part of what we learn is that it’s good to have a diverse team. This is especially true, but you do come across ideas that are absurd or might not work. The best thing you can do is letting them finish without interruption, instead of saying, “No. This is not going to work…”. One of my team members and I worked with did this and everything this person said after the “No” portion nobody listened to.

Don’t take it personally, but also consider people who do.

I also had the dilemma of trying to figure out what you consider personal and not personal. I once had a client who took everything personal in nature, as that is how this person was wired. I never worked with an emotional person before, and I found it challenging. But as I look back, I found it fascinating that I was apparently the emotional one in the team.

Take a day or two to absorb new ideas and come up with new challenges.

I think this is one of the few things that trumped us, and even I wasn’t suspecting it to happen until we formed this group of people with the same skills and education as I. Sometimes new ideas need time to be soaked in our minds. We all learn it differently.  If this is the case, it’s best to wait a couple of hours before coming up with a solution to save a headache in the long run.

It’s ok to be vulnerable.

We’re all human, and sometimes feelings get hurt along the way, if things aren’t said professionally, or if they weren’t communicated correctly. If you get hurt, don’t stop yourself from expressing this privately with the person who hurt you. Take them aside and tell them how you feel.  Tell them it bothers you. The sooner this is addressed, the sooner you can move on. The sooner you can move on the sooner, you can get productive work done.

Praise publicly, criticize privately.

Enthusiasm and happiness are contagious. A little bit of unhealthy criticism can lead to a toxic working environment.

Don’t be afraid to take the lead

If you know what you’re doing, don’t be afraid to stand up and gather everyone. You all have the same goal/s, and you want to be one of those people that can say that you did everything you could to make it work.

Reflect and learn

After everything, reflect on what went wrong, what went right. This will help you in the future and prevent the same mistakes. This will be part of your toolbox. Have the mentality of not taking it personally because it isn’t. After the project, reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Figure out why it didn’t go so well and come up with a solution next time.

Leave in good terms

This is also good for your well-being. You never know when you’ll need their help someday. There is a relationship where people aren’t fit to have a business relationship with someone, but they’re an excellent fit to be friends instead.

Remember, Communication is Key.

I cannot stress this enough. A simple acknowledgment such as “ok” or “thanks” goes a long way. This tells the other person that you received the message and read it. If this occurs during an email, the person sending the information can put “NRN, unless you have questions.” at the bottom of the email. That way, it’ll save people time and energy if the other person received it or not.

Takeaway

Being in a group setting has challenges. I was stressed the whole time, but thankful for the outcome. I ended up leaving the team last minute because I thought I could endure. Perhaps I could have communicated better with the person that drove me to leave, but at that point, I thought it was too much since our preference in communication did not communicate. Therefore, it’s essential to be flexible.

 

Photo by Canva Studio from Pexels

Last Updated: 9/17/19

In October 2017 I ventured out for a place that will help me with my fitness goals. I was gaining weight due to medications. Let me say that practicing Choy Li Fut changed my life.

What is Choy Li Fut?

As fas as I was taught in White Dragon, Choy Li Fut is a martial art that focuses on self-defense. It’s not as fancy as other martial arts like Taekwondo, but the skill that I’ve learned is what matters. Nothing against Taekwondo or the other martial arts out there. I think every single one of them is equally important and unique.

Choy Li Fut focuses on circular strikes and makes use of both the upper and lower body. Basically, the style is similar to a rock at the end of the rope. We use relaxed strikes to conserve energy. Your fist is the rock, and your arm is the rope. But where do we get the energy? Well, we get it from the ground.

One of the main reasons why I like this martial art so much is because no matter how small you are, you can go against someone bigger than and still be able to defend yourself? How? It’s called redirection. Basically, you get close to your opponent and whatever energy they throw at you, you throw it back. Pretty cool, right? There’s a certain type of training in order to be proficient at this. It’s called pushing hands.

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The sashes in rank order. Red isn’t really part of the system, it just means that this person is an instructor. 

Stances

Every single stance we have has a main purpose. The first one is called the horse stance. It looks like you’re riding a horse hence the name. Legs are bowed out to make sure that you stay on the ground and don’t fall when you get hit by your opponent.

The second one is called the cat stance. I can’t tell you much about it except that it’s a stance where you’re prepared to kick, when your opponent gets close. As somebody who practiced gymnastics while younger, I have a hard time perfecting this. Why? Because I’m so used to walking in a straight line, that

The third one is called a bow stance. This stance is used with striking or striking and punching at the same time. It adds extra energy to your strikes as you lunge yourself to the direction your striking too.

Training

Besides the regular kicking and punching, we have this thing called arm conditioning. One of the instructors in my school particularly enjoys this, so he makes us practice this from time to time during class. At first you’ll get bruises on your arm but eventually your body will get used to it. Basically, in order for your bones to get stronger, you need to keep “hitting” it with other bones or wood. We usually practice this with a partner.

What school do I go to?

The name of my school is White Dragon Martial Arts. I think they’re logo is cool and modern. Their facilities are clean. Tuition is not exactly cheap but it’s worth it. I mean, are you really going to set a price for your health and life?

There are numerous branches in Southern California and the owner (Tai Si Gung Nathan Fisher) learned for Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong, who is part of the lineage. Hence, you can trust their system as they’ve been teaching and practicing Choy Li Fut.

In December 2018 I made Blue Sash. It’s the 4th Sash level and I was pretty excited. I used to think that I will never get there, as I always had an image of a cool martial artist that was athletic which I was far from. I guess, I know what I’m doing I suppose.

 

Last May 2018, I participated in the Dragon Cup Tournament, and recieved 3rd place in both forms purple sash! It was my first time winning something. I was genuinely flabbergasted.

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The close for Form 3: Gung Ji Taming Tiger Form

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Switching directions in Form 4: Hung Sing Stick