2016 Thoughts

It’s 2016 and so much is in store for this year.

So what IS in store? What are these things I'm looking forward to?

1. My Australia Awards Scholarship Sojourn

My uplift is scheduled on June 2016 and from hereon my life will be completely different. I will be living in a different country for more than a year or two; I will be away from my parents, my friends, and Martin; I don’t know what the future holds- if I would succeed, exceed expectations, or completely be a failure; I don’t know what city I’ll be in, either Darwin or Melbourne or Canberra; I don’t know who will be my roommate/s, whether they will be kind or the complete opposite, Filipino or caucasian.

There are a multitude of uncertainties but if there’s one thing that is certain, it’s my passion of being in service to the Filipino people. I want to be in the thick of everything. Honest, excellent, and conscientious service to the Filipino people. I don’t know why I have this in me. Gusto ko lang naman makatulong sa ibang tao. I feel I have this duty towards others. I hope this feeling will last my entire lifetime. Pwede kasi when I turn 35 all these feelings will be gone. Priorities shift over time but I hope and pray I will still have this passion in me.

         I'm very excited about the new things I will learn, be it as simple as walking down a foreign street or as complicated as doing data gathering in a foreign land in a remote place. So many things to learn, to absorb. And I hope my brain and my senses will be ready to take it all in! I'm also excited about writing it down here in my blog using my brand-spankin'-new, my hard-earned, my i'm-the-one-who-paid-for-this laptop: the new MacBook! In Gold! Woohoo! I remember buying this in the store. It was the realisation of my eight-month dream! I was contemplating already to get a MacBook Air in early 2015 but when this was released in April, I waited for it to arrive in Manila by June then I waited some more to research and contemplate whether I should get one. It's not something cheap and I do not have a job that pays six digits so I needed to weigh my options. And now I have it! I promised myself that I will buy one before the year ends and I got it last December 30! Woohoo! It's MINE! Bad trip lang talaga yung adapter, ang mahal! Pucha, hindi ko alam kung bakit sooooobrang mahal niya, almost four friggin' thousand pesos!

That box right there.

Finally. It's mine. It's. MINE.

I don't understand. Why do you have to be so damn expensive?

2. New improvements and accomplishment in the project team

A lot needs to be improved and changed within the team for 2016. First off, we have a whole new set of goals and objectives for the year. Seminar/workshops and extended field works will be less and be replaced by shorter but more frequent field works. Also, we only have a handful of team members left. Hopefully we can work more efficiently but it also means field works per team member will be more frequent compared before. I need to implement a new style of management for my team, one that functions like an organisation. There will be different committees handling different team tasks. Since field work will be less, office time will be abundant and that can mean more time to meet with teammates and more time to plan. I also want to improve the current monitoring system that we have with the community. Monitoring has taken its toll on our team and I plan to have it automated already before I leave. We can target it by first quarter of 2016. Protocol assessment shall also be accomplished. I look forward to working with fewer teammates as this will be easier to handle.

      Much has been learned from 2015 that can be used to improve the 2016 project year. I just need to make sure that before I leave, the team is self-reliant.

3. I’m turning 30

Ah. 30. The big 3-0. I feel I have turned 30 already this 2015 because I've noticed small changes in the way I think, I understand, I handle people.  But I’m very excited to learn more, do more, and be more  this 2016. When a person ages, wisdom, acquired through numerous triumphs and failures, settles in and this changes the way a person thinks and acts. I’m very excited for this new way of thinking and acting because it can open new doors of opportunity. And this is very exciting indeed. The formation of new habits comes also with age. This also excites me very much. I love imagining that these changes are imprinted on the brain. How dynamic the brain can be. Sobrang galing ng utak. For me, it's the most complex thing that have ever existed (next is the human body), much more complex than how the earth and galaxies were formed and Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Just three things in store for 2016. But THREE BIG things. I pray to God to give me serenity to accept things I cannot change, courage to change the things that I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Let's go Lord! :) <3 p="">