A Psychology Student Answers His Life-long Calling To Care For Others
Ever since I was a kid, my parents dreamed that I’d become the first doctor in both their families. At first, I thought that this aspiration would soon fade away because it did—for a while.
Back then, I dreamt of becoming a teacher because I looked up to the esteemed second-parent figures I had during my formative years. They instilled and nurtured the values that I kept with me until today. But I also dreamt of becoming an architect, even though I don’t have talent in the arts, because my friend back then wanted to be an architect. That might sound ridiculous, but my aspirations have always been shaped by the people I’m surrounded with and those whom I love.
As I grew up and approached my university years, I felt the pull of a great calling to help other people. Perhaps, my parents have instilled this calling in me from the beginning, or maybe it’s my nature to care for others.
But I’ve witnessed the public health issues that hound our society and reasoned that everyone has a right to good health. Accessible healthcare has always remained scarce. Women, children, and the elderly remain vulnerable because of inadequate support and access to healthcare. I saw how people fought during the pandemic to save lives and it ignited my great aspiration to pursue this path.
Work means working with people, which is why I always try to employ an empathic approach to doing my work. As an intern, my position requires me to remain grounded in the work that I do and as well as be able to put myself in people’s shoes.
Now, I’m studying psychology. Although I want to pursue a career in medicine in the future, I suppose I wasn’t sure that becoming a medical doctor was the right path for me. I chose psychology as my field of study because I still want to explore medicine while also seizing the opportunities that a BS in Psychology can offer in the future like working in law, education, corporate, or any field in which I can help other people.
Studying in Ateneo de Manila University taught me the core values of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit religious order. One core value that I want to carry with me is the value of discernment, the act or practice of noticing the movements within your heart and soul, and identifying your thoughts, desires, and emotions. I feel that this process of discernment will put me in service of the greater good in the future, whether I find myself in the medical field or not.
Choosing Globe
For now, despite not being in a medical field, I feel fortunate to find myself here at Globe. Although I received many positive responses to my applications for internship, I chose Globe because it has been an integral part of our lives. I’ve always been a Globe subscriber ever since I owned a phone, so it fascinates me to be part of something bigger than myself.
The tech industry’s rate of growth outpaces our ability to keep up, so it’s necessary for employees to grow and develop skill sets that will match the needs of their jobs. Which is why it’s our mission to enable the employees to improve their capabilities. So now, I’m a Culture and Enablement Intern for Enterprise Data & Strategic Services (EDS). I’m responsible for aiding the enablement opportunities of EDS employees, like ensuring that they understand their target competencies for the year and then having them acquire the necessary skills, certifications, and training to achieve those competencies. So there’s a lot of town hall meetings and trainings in my job.
To be more specific, it’s my job to help the EDS team with the logistics and preparation of training events for improving Globe employees’ competencies. For example, throughout my stay, we have organized training sessions with Snowflake to help employees in charge of our data in using AI and Cortex Code. As of this writing, I’m curating a comprehensive but easy-to-access training dashboard that will track the training progress of each employee, which will hold a wealth of information useful for improving Globe employees’ skills and competencies.
An Interesting Internship To Be Proud Of
As long as I’m happy with the work, I can remain committed to the work that I do. This is my first internship and I’m happy to be in a place that fosters a happy environment.
Knowing that every day has something new in store for me motivates me to work towards my goal every day. It’s reassuring to know that there are endless opportunities and possibilities for me to encounter in Globe.
My internship was never dull or repetitive, since my day-to-day changes according to the events or training sessions we had lined up. A huge chunk of my internship journey also revolves around the culture aspect of Culture and Enablement, which is to help my team to foster spaces and avenues for employees to relax and deviate from their regular tasks every once in a while. One of the culture events we had was Team Norming for Integrated Commercial Services (ICS). For those who aren’t familiar with the term, “norming” is the third stage of team development where a group resolves conflicts, builds trust, and establishes collaborative routines.
Through this activity, we were able to help the team members create boundaries for work, adopt norms that protect their workplace dynamics, and the like. I was also part of the Q2 Townhall for the whole EDS group, where we convened to celebrate the birthday celebrants for the first half of the year and discuss the metrics and goals we’ve reached.
As long as I'm happy with doing the work, I think it allows me to continue and remain committed to the work that I do. Throughout my stay in GLOBE, my team was able to foster that kind of happy environment, a happy place for a work setting.
We also worked on another annual Globe event, the Insight Summit. This high-level meeting brings together diverse perspectives to better understand the forces reshaping our world. The summit allowed me to listen to meaningful conversations that shape, as a collective, the lives of many Filipino customers.
Not only did we improve our employees’ professional capacities but their physical and mental wellness, too. Last July, we launched the StepFest Phase 2, a friendly competition in which participants compete with each other to rack up the most number of steps during the month. It’s our way of making sure that employees take care of their physical wellbeing despite the demands of stationary desk work.
In my entire internship at Globe, I am proudest of the work I did for StepFest Phase 2, which was the Automated Stepfest Tracker Dashboard I put together, an automated tracker that efficiently decreases the manual labor of tracking points for participants. It was particularly challenging for me, but I’m proud that I was able to complete it and that it will be used for the next event.
I was also proud of Team Norming. It granted me a greater perspective on how conversations are vital in a workplace setting. I saw firsthand how boundaries should be established in professional settings and how conversations are vital in establishing these boundaries.
Passion for change
I can attest that my experience in Globe allowed me to face and talk with different people, different personalities and backgrounds, ones that are different from mine.
Studying psychology allowed me to expand my understanding of empathy and communication. We will all deal with different people from all walks of life, especially in the workplace, and that demands proper communication and empathy. That way, the lives of everyone involved and the work that we do are not compromised.
However, my program extends beyond these conditions and allowed me to still continue working with them to be able to attain our goals. My program allowed me to extend myself to people from backgrounds and upbringings different from mine. I grew up as a shy kid so it was quite a challenge for me to talk to or even approach people. But my role at Globe trained me to hold conversations with other people constantly to attain the company’s goals.
Globe really takes care of its people. During my internship, I was able to see more PWD employees at Globe and that reflects the company's care for its employees.
I’ve always been passionate about working with and for different sectors in society, like urban poor kids, scholars, public elementary school kids, the youth, and youth-led organizations. I'm a member of Musmos Ateneo, an Atenean organization advocating for urban poor kids and empowering them through holistic education and play engagements.
My POV documenting the Integrated Commerical Services Division of EDS Group for their Team Norming
I’m also a part of the Ateneo Consultants for Organization Development and Empowerment (Ateneo CODE), an organization that empowers youth organizations in the Philippines to create positive change through organizational development. I’m also in Ateneo Gabay, which serves Atenean scholars through community-building and public elementary school students through free tutoring sessions. I tend to gravitate towards advocacy work, which aligns with my pursuit of helping others through various ways and means.
Mental wellness at the workplace
If there’s more or less only 1 psychiatrist for every 200,000 Filipinos, then there’s a problem with public health policy making in the Philippines. Change has to start there, with our government bodies recognizing mental health as an urgent health issue, especially for those who are on the spectrum.
The discourse around mental health has certainly changed in the last 10 years, which is why studying in my field is more important than ever.
I would say the global pandemic became a pivotal moment in shifting the narrative around mental health. People are more engaged in discussions of mental health during and after the pandemic more than before the pandemic, mostly because a lot of people talk about it online. More discussions mean the topic has become less taboo.
I think that in Globe, the approach for this is “human-centric.”
For example, it is recognized that a leave of absence due to mental health issues is a valid reason for being unable to come to work. I believe that if we can put value and importance on the physical well-being of an employee, it is of utmost importance to treat mental health as equally important.
Moreover, it is also important to recognize employees with psychological or psychosocial disabilities, like those within the autism spectrum, for example. Disabilities come in different shapes and forms that other people may not be familiar with or are not willing to acknowledge.
If Globe is pushing for an inclusive workplace hereafter, it is time to recognize that neurodivergent individuals also exist and services must be made available catering to their needs and the general well-being of the employees.
Check-ins and psychological services should be made available to everyone not only during and after a crisis, specifically preventive care that addresses problems before a crisis can happen.
Knowing that Globe is at the forefront of the telco business, working closely for and with the daily consumers of its services, they must also be at the forefront of developing and mandating mental health services for their employees. Through these concrete steps, we are able to create a Circle of Happiness.
My final thoughts as I cap off my internship
As an intern, Globe allows me to explore the extent of what I could do within the field I’ve chosen.
My advice to future interns is: if you’re afraid of it, try it anyway!
It may be daunting to submit those applications, but just do it and trust the process. It’s essential to recognize that it is okay to fear the big things ahead of us, but people shouldn’t think of it as weakness, but rather something that comes from a place of care.
The fear of failure or not living up to your expectations comes from caring for the goals of the company and caring about doing your best. Interning at Globe was a fun-filled journey for me, so when you get the opportunity to be one, be sure to seize every opportunity you get and just put yourself out there! You never know what’s ahead of you.
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