Of Learning, Knowledge and Education

A question was popped to me yesterday that inspired me to write this post.

That question was, "Why were we educated?"

You have to admit it was a rather simple question, one would have simply said to get a good paying job, to advance in my chosen field, to be better armed and prepared to face greater challenges or responsibilities.

However, the first thing that came to my head was because I loved to learn. Education gave me the training as well as the opportunity to see things and approach things differently - with analysis and caution and knowing that a single act could have varying effects and impact not just to the subject but other connected aspects as well. It thought me to be critical, observant and discrete as situations called for. My answer to that one sentence of a question was a paragraph - a synthesis of things that I have learned.

Then the person who asked me the question said, "Its simple, really. You went to school so you learn how to think." He went on to say that all the stuff they taught you in school, you're only using bits and pieces of that. Then one more from the group said, "Since I graduated, I began questioning the methods of teaching."

They were simply stating their opinions and beliefs and I respect that. Only it sparked a debate within - not to disprove their opinions but to express a greater understanding of the importance of knowledge, learning and education, after all the years I spent studying I think I should know better.

Well, they were right when they said that they teach you how to think in school. No, let me rephrase that: education itself challenges the mind to think. As Einstein puts it, 

"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."

Socrates also agrees,

"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think."

Education is not just about knowing, it is understanding that the human mind is capable of basic grammar and mathematics, that it can be trained to do greater things.

That more than memorizing, history is a reflection of your past to help you see into the future. It defines behavioral and social sciences, helps one identify culture and tradition and establish an identity not just as person but as a family, a society, a people. Economics is more than just theories - its the theories that need to be understood in order to analyze a certain pattern or order of things. Algebra, Geometry and Calculus involves analysis of the expressions and the problems - the same analysis that is required in logic and philosophy.

To question is good. It means one is trying to understand, however has one taken steps to bridge the gap? I guess that's when the importance of the willingness to learn come in. Because you don't stop where society tells you to stop. Learning after all is a lifelong process. An educated person may have the necessary papers to support professional requirements but to say that it makes him knowledgeable is non-sequitur.

"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." ~Jim Rohn

Indeed, this will make a lengthy debate but at the end of the day its one's ability to adapt and use his capacity to think that will determine the level of education he has been able to instill in himself.

"Education is not the answer to the question. Education is the means to the answer to all questions." ~William Allin

A Job Affair: work I did, places I’ve been, people I’ve met

I’ve been working for a total of 7 years and 8 months now. During that time, I’ve also had 6 jobs. Given my age and the length of time I’ve been working and my level of education, people think I should already have a career. Sadly though, I have yet to find a job I can commit myself too especially since in my heart I know that service is my calling, the first five and a half years of my professional life is proof of that.

Rapport at North 

It was late in 2003, I was then a college undergraduate when I was offered a job at the Philippine Ports Authority in North Harbor. It was originally intended to be a brief project stint for their computerization program. What I thought would be a trial run for working lasted exactly 4 years.

View of a CY @ MICT, Nov. 2007

I started November 2003 and quit on November 2007. My initially boring tasks of reviewing lease contracts, scanning documents and data gathering were gradually finished and replaced with client transactions, license application review and evaluation, contract preparation, reports, research and communication, inspection and lease administration and other stuff.

@ the VTMS Tower

Over the years I learned to love what I do and even found time to go back to school and finish my studies.

@ M/V Princess of the Stars, Dec. 2006

However, I realized that skills and knowledge-wise I was growing but professionally, I wasn’t making much progress. Years have already come and gone and I still don’t have a career.

Daybreak, Dec. 01, 2007

And I deserved one, so sad and hard the decision had to be made. I packed my bags and moved on.

Landed @ Tech

Land Bank Plaza

For me coming to Land Bank was unplanned. It never really crossed my mind until one of my former workmates suggested it and I wasn’t overly excited about it at first. I even waited 2 months to actually come and apply for any position they had open for hire.

When I was finally invited for an interview, I had an impression that I did not qualify. The interview was so still and quick so when they thanked me for my time I left and told myself at least I tried. When I was about to step out, I was surprised that the receptionist told me she just received a phone call asking me to proceed to the 17th floor.

So I went back up a floor higher this time and when I got there the security personnel escorted me to the conference room and wait for my interviewers. It was a bit cloudy then and looked like it was going to rain but I was captivated by an overwhelming view. The conference room had an astounding view of Manila Bay stretching from the CCP bay area to South Harbor. A regular route I’ve been passing by for 8 years but never saw from up high until that instant. For me it was simply amazing.

A view of Manila Bay from LBP Plaza, June 2009

Then my interviewers arrived, I was still a little dumbstruck from staring outside the glass walls. Compared to the first interview I had earlier, this one went on a lot longer, over an hour probably. It was also more relaxed and we found ourselves laughing several times. The interview ended with smiles. This was August 2007.

Months passed and I stopped expecting to hear from LBP anymore so I was more than surprised when I got invited for an interview again and another, the last and final one. Finally on December 2007, I officially became part of eBSD-TMG.

eBSD's Retro Christmas @ Rosa's Garden, Dec. 2008

Brief as it may have been, my stint with LBP gave me the motivation and resources to go back to school and the opportunity to work with the best people and bring out the best in me. The experience really thought me a lot. I made a lot of close friends and it was sad I couldn’t stay.

BPO, KPO...brave new worlds: HSBC & TaskUs

When it was time to leave LBP, I realized that 5 ½ years of my working life has been given to service and that I have been waiting for a chance to get in for a while. I was beginning maybe it was not the career path for me or that maybe it wasn’t just the right time.

With the current buzz and boom of the BPO industry and given their big salaries, benefits and perks, I decided to give it a try.

I landed a customer service representative job at HSBC North Gate though it wasn’t planned. I went to Alabang for a different job interview and North Gate just happened to be a few steps away from where I was. I simply decided to hit 2 birds with one stone. After my exam and interview that morning I walked across the street to HSBC and went through a series of exams and interviews. I stayed till it was over for the simple reason that I wasn’t asked to go home. I thought maybe this was it. I was up for the challenge and took it.

HSBC M1 Tranche 114, July 2009

HSBC provided me a whole new culture, a different approach, a business experience. It thought me the value of diversity, expanded my knowledge on banking and showed me the importance of information security. More importantly, it provided me another avenue for learning, to push myself forward and break away from the ways I was used to.

w/ Team Arlene & the Service Queue, Oct. 2009

Unfortunately, as much as it really paid well, I couldn’t stay because it didn’t fit well with my studies. When I tried to weigh it, I just couldn’t give up school. It meant much and it was something I worked and sacrificed a lot of things for, it was just out of the question.

That was when I landed a voicemail transcriptionist job near our place in Cavite. It was near, it paid okay, I met friends. Friends from different backgrounds and they were interesting. Listening to messages also sharpened my ears and I hear a lot of stuff that were quite unfamiliar at first but Google was there to provide answers. I was rather a brief stint that got cut short because I was offered another job.

I thought about it. Staying in TaskUs is okay, if I wanted the easy way out. All I had to do was listen and type. However, I also knew that staying meant not putting all of my skills and talents in to good use. For me comfort was just not enough. I needed a challenge so I decided to throw in the towel.

A Century of Real Estate

I went to CPI after leaving TaskUs. I thought being part of the Documents and Collections Group was a step in the right direction. So even if I already had over 36 masteral units, I took on project-based contractual employment. It would accommodate my studies and for me titles and positions are empty if they cannot deliver or produce results. An individual’s contribution on an organization is not measured by his position.

Pacific Star Building

Combining all my years of working, I would have to say that the 10 months I spent in CPI was the most challenging. I don’t know how or why it happened but not a week passed that I did not have to write an apology letter or received a complaint. It wasn’t my job to find out why or how, the job was to address the issues and resolve the problems. I tried to do just that. It thought me to be resourceful and innovative and gave me the drive to put a system together and deliver quality service.

CPI Christmas 2010

Leaving came in naturally, not renewing my contract was a mutual decision. They were re-structuring the group and my position was dissolved. Having completed my masters, I felt obliged to put it into good use. Unlike my previous jobs, it wasn’t so hard leaving this time because from the start I knew it was a possibility.

w/ Systems & Inventory Team, Nov. 2010

Finally BGC

At present, I’m a virtual assistant for an offshore client. Adapting to a new culture, learning about new tools and technologies and meeting new people always interests me.

I am now writing professionally which i find rather challenging ‘cause as much as I love writing, it was for the most part always a hobby.

Now, it’s different. I’m beginning to discover an evolving world of e-marketing, slowly understanding SEO and PPC concepts and taking baby steps in content writing and backlinking.

When I told my boss I was leaving LBP, he told me:

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you work, who you work for or work with and how much you get paid working. What matters is you’re happy with what you’re doing.”

That depends on choosing to be happy though.