Friday, 11 September 2009

• Just an Ordinary Girl with Extraordinary Dreams in Essays.ph

  Back when I was still in high school, my parents, friends, teachers, and everyone else who were over the age of 25-30 would tell me that "Life" begins when you've graduated from university, have started and worked under a company for several years, and when you're to begin a family of your own.  Of course, dealing with a teenager like me, they placed more emphasis on graduating and getting a job so that I wouldn't stray away from the plans and goals they have for me, which is really not a problem at all.  Totally understood what they were getting at. 
  
  What they didn't expect though was a teenager like me being able to study and work at the same time, and it all happened when I found Essays.ph in an ad in Jobstreet.
  
  The history before becoming a member of Essays.ph was really memorable for me, especially because of the fact that I was supposed to be one of the typical college students striving hard to start thesis work and finally graduate from college.  No, my entire set of goals were way different from those of my Communication Arts block-mates.  I wanted some form of financial independence already, and due to several personal reasons on the side as well, I just really needed the extra cash.  I tried signing up in websites like Jobstreet and JobsDB and even tried applying for jobs that are normally posted on electrical posts along Gil Puyat and EDSA Rotonda.  As long as I fit the requirements posted in the ads, I was willing to give it a shot.  I got lucky a few times, being accepted for an internship and several interviews, but unfortunately, because I was only 18, my chances of getting hired were very slim.  One of the companies I applied for actually liked my interview and had no problem hiring me, but because of their age policies, they just gave me an encouraging smile before I got on the elevator to go home.
  
  I was at the brink of giving up when I saw the ad of Essays.ph in my inbox.  The words "work at home", "student", and "18 and above" were like diamonds shining in the black sand.  I immediately checked the website, read through every single detail, and quickly made my way to the application form.  Filling up all the details, I stopped and pondered on what possible work piece I could submit for my application.  I then remembered the one article that burned all my hopes and dreams of ever being recognized as a potential magazine writer and decided it was time to give it another shot. 
  
  You see, I was a feature writer for DLSU-Manila's feature magazine.  I was assigned by my editor a topic on the evolution of video game controllers and it was my first time to write a long feature by myself.  I worked diligently, made the deadlines, but in the end the article never got published.  Instead, they scrapped the entire article, took a portion of it, and integrated it with a senior writer's article because it had some relation to his topic.  I never wanted to write for the school paper ever again after that, but deep down I knew that my work was worth keeping and saving for a better purpose, and later on I realized that it was to become a content writer for Essays.ph.
  
  For the past year that I've been writing for Essays.ph, I've had a lot of adventures, experiences (both good and bad), and learned a lot when it comes to working under a real company.  It was interesting because I was one of the youngest in the first batch of EPH writers, and it shocked me at first that most of my co-writers were way older than me, some of them already married and raising children.  But of course that didn't stop me from interacting with them, especially the staff, if I needed guidance, help with instructions, and wanted to get to know the rest of the EPH community.  Eventually, I got the hang of the job and did my best to produce work that was expected of a writer of Essays.ph.
  

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  If I were to choose a particular adventure or experience that was closest to my heart, it would have to be on the night of October 13, 2008.  I was finishing up an assignment on lasik eye treatment and was SUPER relieved when I posted the finished .zip file on the designated thread.  This was because I was working in a noisy 24/7 internet cafe with really bad lighting and loud-mouth DOTA players screaming from my left, right, as well as from behind.  If I had lasted any longer, I would've been a candidate for lasik eye surgery myself.  So, getting ready to leave, I did my usual post-assignment routine by browsing through the forums for any update or interesting reply in any of the Cafeteria's threads.  It was then I realized that I saw three threads in the Conference Room. BLUE. GREEN. RED. 
  
  

  
  
  

  I have to be honest with you, I'm an open book.  I literally squealed when I realized I was promoted to the Blue Team.  My eyes were wide open, I was reading through the Blue Team Online Manual like wildfire, and I just had to text message my family about it.  Now, you guys may think this is really something normal if you've been working at a company for quite some time, but this promotion meant a lot of things to me.  Here, let me break it down for you.  
  
  

  • For starters, this was my very first promotion in my entire "career" as a writer.  I never got promoted as a regular writer in the school paper and was never recognized in the list of feature writers whenever a new publication was out for circulation.  To put it simply, it was definitely an achievement I would've loved to shove down their throats. 
    
  • Second, it was the very first time that I felt the appreciation and recognition that I thought I would never experience as a writer.  With so many rejections, criticisms, and thumbs-down towards my work, I never really expected Essays.ph to actually consider me in the roster for Blue Team members.  Though I got encouragement from my fellow writers, I never once expected to become a Blue Team member.
  • Third, it was an achievement I could finally be proud of and boast to my family.  My dad and grandmother always thought I was lazy, incompetent, and had no sense of direction when it came to my future.  They always lectured me to learn the values of work and responsibility.  After text messaging them that I was promoted, I smiled as I read my dad's message of encouragement, my mom's smiley-filled text of being proud of me, and even my grandmother's words of wisdom even if she didn't really know how to text well.  Each one was a reminder that even if they are harsh or they don't congratulate me for my accomplishments all the time, they are there to give me the support that a family could only give.

  
  But of course, this experience couldn't have come true if I didn't go through problems, mistakes, and made an effort to get out of my comfort zone.  To be honest with you, I made a lot of mistakes that ended up in suspension or delays due to revisions.  But I knew that with this job, I just couldn't give up that easily, and because of that personal determination, I not only progressed as a content writer but also achieved something that I thought was impossible for a person like me:  I made very good friends.  These are friends who were not only there to share in my work joys and sorrows, but friends who were there to share my personal happiness and pain with.  They accept me for who I am, they understand me in my times of confusion and loss, and have even gone out of their way just to spend some free time out of their busy schedules with me, and these small but meaningful gestures of friendship are enough to make me work hard to become not only a better writer but also a better person and friend to everyone, both in and out of Essays.ph.
  
  
  

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