THE ROAD TO 100%

Jessica O. Hernandez
Lyceum of the Philippines University – Laguna
jhernandez@lpulaguna.edu.ph

They say that when you believe you can do it, you’re already halfway there. This is hard
to feel and internalize when you get welcomed with many things to do and accomplish. One
moment, you have the beautiful future just before you then a whole bunch of obstacles hinder
your path. But hey, you’re already halfway there and it will just be half of what you must go
through, right?

The start of this academic year’s second term was also the start of planning for
internship and communicating with target companies. Since last November, after the Deloitte
Tax Challenge 2022, I aspired to be part of Deloitte’s Transfer Pricing Department because I got
hooked with their competitive environment and I was willing to learn more from them. Fast
forward to last week, I got the reply from the company HR and my application got me a slot for a
preliminary interview.

This situation truly got me all fidgety and excited and nervous all at once. There is a thrill
to waiting if I will get an email for the next step of the process and a big relief and happiness
when I finally do after days of constant rants and anticipation. The Alumni Talks class activity
added to this fire and helped me reflect and assess on how I should manage my internship from
application to onboarding processes.

GRIT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT

The first lecture by Ms. Reina Canda was as helpful as it can get. She first emphasized
on knowing your passion and that made me revisit why I am here now. The start of the school
year was not good to me because I failed the last qualifying exam and I will not be able to
graduate as a BSA student. But one thing led to the next and opportunities still came for me
despite those difficult circumstances. I do not like to think that my passion is accounting, and I
am still new to the management accounting curriculum but maybe my passion is making my
experiences and my present worthwhile and useful even if I get surrounded by unpleasant
factors. I find this realization helpful as this can help me during my lowest toughest times. Ever
since, I taught myself to always anticipate the worst because this would lessen the impact of
every bad news and would help me get back on my feet. I believe this would also build my
endurance and emotional during difficult encounters in the corporate world.

Ms. Reina’s additional tips also made me reflect on some of my experiences. One of the
things I’m really proud of is being a student leader and a helping hand to fellow students.
Mostly, this is the foundation of my credentials. I am productive working with others and I deliver
good results with my peers. It was good to realize that I am on the right track because Ms.
Reina mentioned that having extra-curricular activities and organizations are good ways to
leverage resumes.

Another thing that I enjoyed in the discussion is when it was mentioned that an
internship experience will generally give us a clue to what is out there. Internships should not be
taken lightly because this would help me realize how I act and carry tasks in the workplace.
Another takeaway related to this is when Ms. Reina mentioned is that “the best predictor of
future behavior is past behavior.” How we present ourselves and how we act mirrors how we
trained ourselves to be. I value this one because being in the last two terms of college means
that I am coming closer to the real corporate world. It is a reminder that this is it, this is what I
trained and worked very hard for. This is the manifestation of my ‘whys’ and dreams for myself
and my family.

Following this, I could go on and on about how I value my mentors very much. It was a
great relief to know that in the workplace, you can go to someone who will guide you and help
you understand if you are still in the right path. Further, this also extends my respect to effective
educators because if not for them, competitive and productive employees would not exist. Most
times, we owe our success to mentors who believed in our capabilities and who pushed us to go
beyond what we know we can do. I also appreciate that Ms. Reina mentioned about grit. I love
the word very much because it screams passion and perseverance. I always believed that
passion is the driver but perseverance is the wheel that will get us to where we want to be. If
passion is the fire, perseverance is the oil that keeps it burning.

WITH EXCELLENCE AND COMPASSION

I appreciate Mr. JP Seño’s lecture because he discussed it in a very modern, relatable
way. He incorporated famous movie lines into the five main topics he intends to discuss. His talk
was less formal, but the lessons were valuable and made me reflect on how I display myself as
person and how I show compassion with everything going on. I can’t really choose a favorite
because the key points were all worthy of reflection and discussion. But I would like to elaborate
on two key points.
 He started off with a line relating to competition. This was a good issue to discuss
because keeping up with the corporate competition and trying to strive in a competitive
environment is what I tried to expose myself to. It is no surprise that corporations or excellent
companies operate in a progressive workspace. This is why our mentors always remind us to
commit to excellence and hold the bar higher so we can watch out for ourselves in the near
future. I am scared but curious to see if I have trained myself enough or if I am capable enough
to compete with other worthy candidates. I feel this very much these days because I am part of
the set of applicants being screened for internship. With Sir JP’s talk, I was able to remind
myself to trust the process, trust my training and do my best to deliver the best outcomes.

The next thing I would like tor reflect on is the line on being compassionate. The movie
quote says “sa kagustuhan nating maging magaling, nalilimutan nating maging mabuti.”I have
high respects for successful people but I have more respect to humble individuals. They are the
people I can learn more from. The first reflection and this one sometimes do not meet because
the former talks about keeping up with works while this one talks about remembering to be
human. Either way, I believe both are essential keys to success. I am thankful that we are
repeatedly reminded of this because keeping my feet on the ground is another goal that I’d like
to live up to. Knowledge and skills can always be learned but humbling oneself and always
having high regard for others is not something everyone is capable of. This discussion perfectly
matches my email sign off which is “with excellence and compassion.”

They say that when you believe you can do it, you’re halfway there. But I say, when you
believe you can do it, you’re already there, you just have to make it happen. With excellence
and compassion, I hope this taught you things the way it taught me.