The First Day of Work Immersion

The night before our first day on our work immersion, I was feeling excited and nervous
at the same time, because of that, I did not get much sleep. Despite of the lack of sleep, I was still
full of excitement and energy the next morning, the morning that will mark the start of our
working experiences. My classmates and I made sure that we’ll be on time, but because of fright
from getting light and all of the excitement, we arrived more than 30 minutes earlier than the
scheduled time.

When we arrived, we were asked to sigh in the log book of the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD), and it was satisfying to see that we were one of the early
birds. After that, we immediately climbed up the stairs until we reached the floor that our work
immersion adviser asked us to go. We spent our remaining time sitting on the benches, and
waited for further instructions. After more than 30 minutes, a man came up to us and told us the
rules and regulations of their offices, we listened carefully and noted some important details.
And then he assigned us to our respective tables and directors, in which James and I were
assigned on the same floor and the others were sent downstairs.

Inside our cubicle or mini-office, there were more than 5 tables. We were greeted by two
women, one of them were actually staying in that cubicle, and the other belongs on the other
department. They let us sit in the empty tables, for the other employees were still not there, and
one of them were still on leave. A couple of minutes later, we were asked to do some task, like
filing papers and stamping the papers that is needed to be signed. While James was arranging
papers, I was stamping a lot of bunch of papers, seeing the pile of papers that is needed to be
signed, I thought 1 day wouldn’t be enough, but driven by the desire to do my best in everything
that they ask us to do, I was able to finish more than half of the pile of papers even before our
lunch break.

Since I was staying alone in my dormitory that time, I did get to pack my lunch pack. But
my classmates did not have some as well, so we decided to find some place to eat and buy our
lunch, we settled on the Jollibee. But the hotness of the climate shocked me right after we left the
DSWD, the whole building had air conditioner in it, so the whole place is cold, but right when
we stepped outside, it was hot. That immediate change in temperature sent me to sickness for my
entire stay in DSWD, but the fever did not stop me from participating in our work immersion.

After lunch, we went back to DSWD before the lunch break ends so that we can rest for a
couple of minutes before our works resumed. When the time ticked the end of lunch break, I
begun stamping again. I thought I was almost done, but then they added more papers, a lot
actually. But I did let it get in to me, instead I took it as a blessing for I know that this is a lot
easier than the actual work of the other employees, so I resumed. I worked fast but effectively
until then. The day was not enough to finish my work, but I continued the next day. With this, I
realized that things are not easy but they can still be done.

We were sent home when the time ticked its time. They all thanked us for our great work,
and that made all of us feel good. It felt good to do something with your best and be
complimented by it. No pain, no gain as the saying goes.
 My Best Experience

My best experience would have to be the day when the engineers taught us how to use
the application called AutoCad. This application makes it easier for you to do your blueprints,
from simple forms to the complex ones. I was not feeling well this day, I had fever, because I
had dengue that time, I did not until then, so I ignored my fever and did not say a thing about it,
because if I did I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn how to use the AutoCad.

Despite of being sick, itchy and having the lack of energy, I pushed myself to go through
all the walking from home to DSWD, because I had the drive to learn more and see more. When
we arrived at work, we were not tasked to do anything from our director, we were just sitting and
looking at everyone who is working. But that ended when we were called to go downstairs for
the lecturing for AutoCad. That made me excited actually, because it is something new
something useful for our future studies and work, because background knowledge is very much
important. The atmosphere downstairs were much different from the department that James and I
were assigned to. They were being funny and all. They were just talking to themselves casually,
as if they were not grown-ups and professionals, but that’s good thing for me, because when your
happy and comfortable, that means you love you work, your work place, and your co-workers.

They showed us a couple of samples of their projects on AutoCad, all of the blueprints
that they showed were amazing. After that, they showed us different symbols, basic commands,
and some procedures how to do it right.

They did not have enough laptops for us to use in trying to use AutoCad, they can only
provide one. So we decided to work as a group, which was pleasing for me that time, because I
was starting to get drowsy and all because of my fever. But still, I continued and tried my best to
listen and work with my group.

James was the one who was working with the computer and we, the remaining ones, were
simply instructing him what to do. We were giving our own insights. We were tasked to do a
floor plan as a practice, they showed us one and we had to copy it on our own. We were
brainstorming to succeed the task, during that time, we were laughing and being serious at the
same time. Because for me, having fun while working is important for it gives us the drive more
effectively and efficiently.

It was fun doing something that is new to us but made us interested in trying it. The
learnings that we had from the engineers are surely something that we can use in the future.
 Most Memorable Experience

My most memorable experience was during our out of school work immersion had to be
when we were brought to the place where the major project of the DSWD is happening. There
were tons of constructions on that site, with their budget or allotted money posted on posters
beside the buildings.

This event took place on the 4th day of our out of school work immersion, June 10,
2019.We took a jeepney like service to go to the site, that ride alone became memorable already,
because we get to bond with some engineers who came with us. We played Mobile Legends and
shared some experiences during the whole ride. Talon-talon is new to me, so I was amaze the
whole ride by the structure of the houses and sceneries.

When we arrived, big constructions welcomed me and my classmates. It may be not my

first time to see house constructions, but the fact that I was with the actual engineers who
working on the constructions was pretty much amazing for me, for I know that I would learn a
lot more than what I knew about engineering.

We inspected every building inside the site. The engineers assigned to each building
taught as the things that we need to know. They shared us things like what to consider before
starting the construction, the differences of the materials being used, how to calculate for the
budget of the materials and how to calculate the quantity of the materials that will be used, the
parts of the buildings that serves as the foundation and the thing that helps to secure the safety
and quality of the building. They taught us a lot of things that I imagined myself being in their
position, working and giving someone the knowledge about my work and passion.

It was really hot that they, and at the same time I was also sick, but the fact that I did my
best to participate in my full potential made me realize that I can do so much more on this field.
Considering that Civil Engineering wasn’t my first choice before, but here I am, giving my best
to learn more, which means I am learning to love this field of work, I am beginning to love Civil
Engineering.

Moments like this are worth to be treasured for, because if I am to become a Civil
Engineer in the future, then I can say that this event in my life is the one that made me love and
give passion for the my work, and gave me the courage to take this course even more. We
treasure things that contributes to our success. As what we Filipinos say, “He who does not know
how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination”.
 What inspires me to become an Engineer

During the whole of my out of school work immersion, I have observed and seen things
that are much different to what I have imagined before engaging myself in this field. I have seen
things that have changed my perspective a lot different from before. I have seen things that really
inspired me to proceed to this field of work, Civil Engineering.

I wanted to be an accountant, originally, but due to some comments from my indirect

family, I decided to take STEM instead to please them, to end the unnecessary comments from
them. I didn’t know what to expect at frist, I don’t even know the nature of work of an engineer,
I had no idea at all. But who knew, that this our of school activity, the work immersion, really
helped me to develop my interest and passion for this field. It made me gain more respect for the
engineers.

I know, taking civil engineering won’t be easy, they say, that it is much harder from
taking accountancy, you could the risk that I have taken and will be taking from taking STEM
and Civil Engineering for my college course. Me, the person who has no idea of what will she be
facing and will be encountering in the future really took the courage to proceed in this field.

Success, needs passion, contentment needs passion. Think of a person who doesn’t have
passion on what he or she is doing. I am that person. But with the help of work immersion, I
have seen a new light, a new hope, that I can actually make it in this field, that I can actually
learn to love and have passion for Civil Engineering.

That’s why I am really in so much gratitude for this out of school work immersion and
for the people who guided and stood with us during this event. Because of all people, they are the
ones who inspired me to proceed and strive for success. The scenes that they showed us, the
nature of work that they have, and the bond that they built among themselves are the things that
made me see how fun and how beautiful it is to be a Civil Engineer.
 Interviewing My Supervisor

The first thing that I can say about interviewing was, it is not easy to have a schedule
with a person that knows almost all about the company or the department. We were actually
tasked to do the interview as soon as possible, but with the busy schedule of the person that the
company chose to be the interviewee, we only had the chance to interview him on the 4th day of
our work immersion. This made me realize, that real life, is much harder to deal with than the
life and tasks that we have at school. Getting a schedule that will fit both the interviewee and the
interviewer is already hard to deal with, but nevertheless, we were still able to proceed with it.

We were all nervous, but with each other, we were able to compose ourselves for the sake
of the success of this interview. We assigned roles and responsibilities to each one of us, to make
sure that our goal will be met, and the information that we’ll need will be asked and answered.

One of our members was tasked to write the minute of our interview, one was recording
the whole interview just to make sure that we won’t miss any information from the interview that
was than, and the rest of us did the questioning and follow ups.

That person that was tasked to be the interview was pretty much intimidating, well for the
fact that he is someone that is worthy of respect from everyone and he is someone who knows
almost all about the company’s purpose and their rules and regulations. He had this aura that you
can make someone tell that he knows a lot of things, from the way he dress and stand says it all.
But we did our best to proceed to the interview.

The interviewee was remarkable before, during and after the interview. He made our job
easier because he gave us beyond of what we expected from him. Even before we could even ask
him the next questions, he would include the answers between lines that it made it much faster
for us. He did some follow ups and even gave examples to support each of his statements. He
even made sure that he did not miss any information that could possibly help us to understand
the things about their company even more.

So I could say that the interview went well for we have the informations that we needed
and we had gained things that could motivate us and the others when we get the chance to share
it with them.