My Vocational Profile Plan Annaliza Santos LDRS 520 – Dr ... · My Vocational Profile Plan Annaliza Santos LDRS 520 – Dr. Paul Kaak Azusa Pacific University ... the lesson, and

Running head: VOCATIONAL PROFILE PLAN 1

My Vocational Profile Plan

Annaliza Santos

LDRS 520 – Dr. Paul Kaak

Azusa Pacific University

VOCATIONAL PROFILE PLAN 2

My Vocational Profile Plan

“Oh, it is six o’clock in the morning, time to get up and be prepared for

work…hurry….hurry!” This is the scenario at my house almost everyday, and probably the

same scenario for everyone. This is our world now, past facing, busy, and overwhelming. Most

of the time, we go straight to our to-do list and bury ourselves in work. Do we even bother to

pray? Do we even bother to look around and check our surroundings? Well, maybe yes or

maybe not. We are always busy. Our lives are always full, and yet they are empty, insignificant,

and unfulfilled. You know what we can do? We can always slow down, so we can appreciate

the things around us, and check what has been missing. Maybe the emptiness we are looking for

is the vocation God has placed upon us. Maybe God is stirring our soul and trying to move us

where we were born to be, to do what we were born to do (Hutchcraft, 2010).

Finding our true calling is definitely a process. Start with step one – pray, reflect, and

spend time with Him everyday. Day by day, He will show us which path to go. We may not see

the whole road in one step, we may not see the calling we are looking for right away, but for sure

it is there. We just have to trust Him and follow His words. As Thomas Merton said,

“Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond [our] reach but

accepting the treasure of true self [we] already posses. Vocation does not come from a voice out

there calling [us] to be something [we] are not. It comes from a voice in here calling [us] to be a

person [we] were born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given [us] at birth by God.”

Solitude, Reflection, and Prayer

Reflection #1:

The paradoxical journey of waiting, moving from the known to the unknown, the seen to

the unseen of God’s future, will have some terrifying moments in it. Ease and predictability are


not among God’s promises. But as we wait, as we journey, we will find ourselves clinging to

God as never before, and listening for His voice as if our life depended on it! That in itself makes

the waiting worth the while (Patterson, 1989, p. 75).

During my first solitude, I reflected back on the first day I moved from the Philippines to

the United States (US). I moved away from my family and friends to a totally new environment.

I experienced walking naked in the land of uncertainties (Quinn, 1996, p. 3). I experienced many

ups and downs, challenges, culture shock, and some minor discrimination. Together with my

ups and downs, I learned to cling to the Lord as never before. I learned to listen and wait….wait

that all terrifying moments and falsity will go, and I am glad I did. My relationship with Him

grew stronger. This experience helped a lot to promote my vocation to help and support nursing

international students. Like them, I experienced how to be in their shoes. I believe, I am just

one of the Lord’s instruments to help these students to be successful here in the US.

Reflection #2

We are all faced with opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. Take

off opportunity’s disguise today. As you unmask your impossible situation and reveal it as an

opportunity from God, the greatness of God is just waiting to show itself in your life (Swindoll,

2011).

I am currently doing two major responsibilities at work, one as a finance manager and

two as a program coordinator. Everyday is an overwhelming experience for me to excel and to

accomplish things. My strengths help me a lot to see this overwhelming experience as

opportunities to help and serve others. I knew God gave me a lot of strength to unmask many

impossible situations, and to prepare myself to be a change-agent and mobilizer for a positive

change.


Reflection #3

“Rejoicing removes stress. It causes us to remain fresh in faith and presence. It is not an

option; it is a necessity” - Graham Cooke.

I admit, I am an achiever and I love accomplishments. However, there is one thing I

learned from this, accomplishments, compliments, and success are non-sense without God in the

center. As a working professional, I tend to focus my time solving problems stressfully. It is not

healthy. I realize I need to remove my stress. I started to reflect at least thirty-minutes everyday,

and I spend time with Him in solitude. This gave me peace, renewed faith, and presence with the

Lord.

Reflection #4

“A good time to laugh is any time you can” - Linda Ellerbee.

During the early years of my career, I was only driven by my dream. A dreamt of buying

this and buying that; all the material things, which I thought were the only things that would

make someone happy and contented. I was totally wrong. Days and years went by and I started

to realize that those things were not the epitome of my happiness. The Lord, my family, my

friends – they are the epitome of my happiness. Well, I am not saying that material things are

not important, they are, but we just have be reminded that those things should not shape us as a

person.

In one of the class sessions for LDRS 520, Dr. Paul Kaak mentioned a story about his

house. He mentioned that he has been living there for twenty years now (approximately), but he

was really honest to say that he only started enjoying living in his house three years ago. Why? I

interpreted his story as maybe because he was aiming for something more, a bigger house

perhaps? But what really struck me that night was when he said that we should not waste any


single minute to enjoy and treasure everything that we have. Because regardless of how many

years, or days, or hours we spent in that house, big or small, the most important thing is how we

spend it. Treasure the memory, the lesson, and experience. As Linda Ellerbee said, “A good

time to laugh is any time you can.”


Timeline of My Life

- Science was one of my favorite subjects in grade school.

- My mother said, I started reading at the age of four and was able to

memorized 12-stanza’s declamation at the age of six in preparation

for school-wide competition.

- I loved reading when I was a child. I loved history, and Noli Me

Tangere was one of my favorite books. This is about Spanish

colonization in the Philippines.

- Oh, I loved to sing too and was a member of our church choir.

At a Glance

• I was born on April 18th, 1982.

• I was born in the beautiful

province of Batangas, Philippines.

• I am now living in the US with

my husband and son.

My Childhood

- I loved playing as a teacher when I was young.

- I was a Class President from first grade to sixth.

- I was a group leader in Girl Scout and loved competition.

- I was really competitive and most of the times, ranked first in academics.

This is my family

My beautiful hometown

E. T. was one of my favorite movies growing up.


My Early Teens • Even though we were not rich, my parents tried their best and sent me to a private Science High

School. I was very active in high school, academics and non-academics.

• In high school, I experienced my first of not-so-good grade. I received C+ in Algebra. I was

really embarrassed to show my report card to my parents. To be honest, Math was not my favorite.

• I was elected SK Chairman in our village. SK stands for Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth

Organization). I led the youth organization in our village and we started a lot of projects. Our

main goal was to establish an organization that will invite youth to spend their time in an important

project and not to drugs or early pregnancy.

• I was a junior cadet in High School and became one of the officers during my senior year.

• I started working when I was in high school. I helped my parents in our small business.

• All in all, my early teens were really memorable and competitive.

This is the name of the youth organization I led back in 1999.

My family ran a small restaurant. I worked with my parents. I used the money for my books allowance.

I started college when I was 16. I went to Centro Escolar University, a private Christian university in Manila. I moved out of my parent’s house and lived independently until I finished college. I took BS Commerce, major in Business Management and minor in Accounting. I continued working while in college. I worked at the school library, accounting office, and several fast-‐food chains. Business Law was one of my favorite subjects in college.

I have a collection of John Grisham books, one of my favorite authors

Timeline of My Life


My Early 20’s and Beyond

After college graduation, Centro Escolar University

hired me as a full-time Accounting Assistant. I worked

there for 1 year and then transferred to another job.

I was hired at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in

Makati. I worked there for a short period of time. I was

happy with my job, but that time, I was looking for

something more. After BPI, I got a job in a travel and tourism foreign

company. Very far from my accounting background and

major, I took the job as an International Reservation

Officer. With no knowledge in tourism industry, I took

the opportunity of learning this new challenge. I learned

so much from this job, and I loved this job very much.

In addition to free travels, local and abroad, I enjoyed

learning new cultures and meeting different people

everyday. My first promotion came after two years. I

was promoted as Operations Manager for International

Accounts.

Cali fornia, USA My Family

Year 2007, with the Lord guidance, I moved to California for

work. I was hired at HealthCare Partners in Pasadena but

only stayed there for six months. I was immediately hired at

Azusa Pacific University School of Nursing as a Program

Coordinator. I am still with APU right now and still enjoying

and loving my job.

I met my husband here in California and we are married now

for six years and blessed with one son.

I amcurrently enrolled in the MA Leadership Program at

APU.


Conversation with Friends and Mentors

(Actual Responses)

Dear ______,

Good morning. I hope this email finds you well.

This term, as part of my M. A. Leadership Program, I am taking Understanding Vocation in a

Changing World. As part of this course, my professor asked us to connect with our mentors and

friends for a small conversation through email. I have several questions for you and I would like

to ask a huge favor if you could answer them for me. Your honest assessment, time, and help are

greatly appreciated.

1. Where do you recall me making my greatest contribution at work?

2. What kind of work was I doing when people most benefited, grew, had fun, or succeeded?

3. What was I doing when you remember me having the most joy?

I need your response by Tuesday, Sep. 24, 2013. Thank you so much for your time and

willingness to consider this conversation.

Response # 1 – From Christine Ernst


I think you have made your greatest contribution in setting up the budget system. When

you entered the role there was not much structure to it. You have implemented policies and

procedures to ensure we are on budget and that payments are properly tracked and paid on

time. Another major contribution you have made is setting up the policy and procedures for the

International students. You took that project from the beginning phase and worked with people

from across the campus to create an exceptional handbook that allows us to better serve the

students.



There are many ways to answer this question. First, you bring a great energy to the staff,

when the staff is able to be together during lunch or the staff meeting you are able to make it

enjoyable for everyone and make everyone laugh. When I think of people who you have helped

succeed I think of the student workers. You are concerned about their growth and are always

thinking of ways you can better prepare them for their jobs after graduation.


I think I have seen you with the most joy either when you are working with Bonnie or

when you are working with students. I love hearing your reaction when you see a student

coming to you for help. You always make them feel like they are not interrupting you (and I

know that they are :). I also love seeing you when you are helping your students prepare to

graduate. You can tell that you are so proud of them and are genuinely excited for their big

accomplishment.

I hope this helps :) Thank you for everything you do for the SON. You are incredible and this

place would not be the same without you.

Christine

Response # 2 – From Dr. Bonita Huikes


Finding a single "greatest contribution" is very difficult when nearly everything you

undertake is your next GREAT contribution. Because you embody excellence in the way you

approach and undertake every task, and most successive tasks benefit from what you learn in

previous tasks, finding the greatest is challenging, if not impossible.

When I think of contributions, I have to list 1) the manner in which you located and


assigned clinical placements for the MSN students when that was part of your job description, 2)

your research into the matter of international students in the MSN program which resulted in a

notebook, changes in our procedures and forms 3) your continued development of the

spreadsheets/databases for the MSN students and 4) your management of the budget process for

the School of Nursing. This partial list provides evidence of your approach to your work.


I can't specify a particular time or task because these four qualifiers describe what I

observe in your work on a weekly basis.


Two things come to mind: the first is observing you interact with students, particularly

the international students, and the second is the delight you have when you master something

which has been challenging.

Response # 3 – From Dr. Fely dela Cruz


You always contribute your best effort to the workload at work—in most instances, you

take the extra mile. Thus, your “greatest contribution” has been the consistency of your best

effort and willingness to always share in the workload.

From the time you started working at the School of Nursing (SON), I knew that you

would be a very productive member of the staff. You have been open to new learning

experiences and you easily grasp the requirements of new projects. For example, I exposed you

to grant writing by asking you to accomplish segments of the Song Brown grant proposal. Never

did we anticipate that you would use those skills under very stressful conditions when you had to

basically write a grant proposal, without supervision from the person responsible for writing the


proposal. Furthermore, you knew your capabilities so you did not feel constrained to ask help

from me when needed. Likewise, in an unprecedented way, you flew to Sacramento and directly

delivered the grant proposal to the funding agency. Nobody has done this before. It shows your

commitment to whatever you do.

Since you have been assigned to track the budget of all sources of funding to the SON, I

have seen you perform diplomatically to balance the demands of accountability and the demands

of practicality. You have been a guardian of propriety in keeping the expenditure of grant funds

according to rules and regulations, without undue bureaucratic impediments.

2. What kind of work was I doing when people most benefitted, grew, had fund, or succeeded?

Since you have been assigned to the admission of students to the MSN program, I have

noticed that you highly individualized your approach to students, especially the international

students. You go out of your way to make them feel comfortable in a very new environment, by

clearly explaining what they are to submit and what resources they can use. You have kept your

eyes open for possible employment of these students, to keep them financially afloat.

Also, you worked with the Office of International Students in creating policies that would

standardize the criteria for admission and the curricular progression of international students.

You have gone out of your way to assist them in navigating graduate school, to make it less

intimidating and friendlier. You embody the Christian value of kindness and compassion to all

the students in the graduate program.

3. What were you doing when I remember you having the most joy?

I am very aware that you have the most joy talking about your little boy—Thomas. It

gives you joy to talk about his smartness and his antics. He is your joy and he keeps whatever

you do all worth it.


Response # 4 – From Lilli Chavez


Liza is gifted and talented in so many ways, and yet she remains humble, always willing

to serve and to lend a hand. I think Liza’s greatest contribution is that she maintains such a

positive outlook, and her positive attitude uplifts the whole department. Even when things are

extremely busy and stressful, Liza continues to remain positive. Whether it is in working with

students, faculty, or coworkers, Liza goes the extra mile; she has a servant’s heart. Liza is a joy

to be around.


This is a difficult question. I have witnessed student’s benefit from Liza’s helpfulness

and undivided attention. She takes the time to explain processes to the students, and never

makes them feel that she is too busy to talk to them. Liza also serves her faculty and department

willingly and with professionalism. Everything Liza does is done with excellence. Her excellent

work is a reflection of who she is. And not only does Liza have an eye for detail, she creates an

environment that is conducive to good work relationships.


I think Liza finds the most joy in working directly with and helping people—she is a

people person!

You are simply awesome……..that is all. Lilli

Response # 5 – From Lorielyn Bayalan

Hello Liza,

I'm good though I am so busy nowadays. We have big group arriving this October and aside

from that I have series of bookings, which they called it as " Mystery group.” We have agent


already in Japan and they are the one getting all those groups. So stressful but I am happy that

we have this, it is work and that's mean money.

With regards to your question, here's my reply.

1. I remembered you having your greatest contribution at work in Discovery Tour. When I was

consulted if you can be good in inbound department, I immediately agreed. I know your

capability and willingness to learn. And I was right; you never failed my expectation specially

when you handled our Korean department. Remember? You did it very well,

2. You love servicing people and as part of our inbound team, we have to make it sure that

bookings of our clients will be properly taken cared of. Being one of your mentors, I am happy

that you adopted all of my teachings - from making bookings, individual itinerary down to

reconfirmations. We have some problems at times, but you have learned how to handle it

properly. You learned how to pacify clients and make them feel that they will have a pleasant

trip. I hope you learned it from me too

3. Well, if it is still with regards to work. Our aim is always to satisfy our clients and never

receive complains instead a compliment from them. I think that is your joy also. Your most joy

during your stay here is when you are able to have satisfied clients, whenever you received

compliments from guest and your boss. So despite of hard work, when you are being

commented to be good, I know you become so happy,

Thanks Liza. I was indeed my pleasure remembering those times that we are together. I really

missed our team, you, Tina and Rhea.

Always keep safe – Ninang Lorie

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My Vocational Profile Plan Annaliza Santos LDRS 520 – Dr ... · My Vocational Profile Plan Annaliza Santos LDRS 520 – Dr. Paul Kaak Azusa Pacific University ... the lesson, and