No More Classes, No More Books…

Yahoo! MDP Finals is finally over!!! (I think that was a bit redundant but what the heck!) I made it! I made it! I made it! The last few days were so terrible for me. I experienced panic attacks and nervousness which I very much tried to control (and outwardly conceal) as best I can. But my stress levels were so high that I kept on wanting to quit, resign, live on an island for at least a month and do some soul searching. To think that I used to eat  stress  for breakfast prior to my life in GSIS (that’s a total of 24 years). Now, after 5 years of working here, the last 3 months of which were spent in our organization’s very prestigious Management Development Program , I can say that  I have been extremely challenged in the areas of stress & internal conflict management. Plus, I’m no longer used to the academic world of  excellence as much as I would like to believe. But after this morning, I think I may still have a fighting chance if only I continue to face every battle head on.

Deity (my MDP buddy), Me and Gene early this morning…
 

You see, my groupmates and I did very well on our final exams this morning. It’s not the usual pen & paper  type. It’s a role-playing improv type of presentation.The premise was, we were to behave as managers of the system and we will be presenting to our President and General Manager and the rest of the MANCOM, our recommendation regarding a specific  case study assigned to us  last week , incorporating everything we’ve learned in MDP. We will be graded based on the content of our presentation, the way we answered the questions during panel discussion, confidence level, exhibition of effective presentation skills and integration of all critical learnings.

Alex arrived just in time for our presentation. She’s the one between Gene & I on the left photo. 
 

My gosh! What I felt this morning was a combination of all the stresses I felt back in college prior to having an oral examination in Philosophy and Theology! Only this time, I’d be facing a very tyrannical boss (portrayed by my teachers Amy & Karen). As they say, the purpose of this is to prepare us for the real world out there when we become executives ourselves and we’ll really be facing THE BIG BOSS. I’m just glad it’s over. The praises given us by our teachers were merely icing on the cake. But it was a heck of an icing if I may say so. And oh, I was told that one of the big bosses passed by the examination room and heard me during the question and answer portion. She found me to be very confident and articulate, that I spoke and answered very well.  She was really impressed! To think that this was the same boss who felt offended by my VERY SEXY ATTIRE when I co-hosted our employees’ night last week. I’m glad that this boss now has a a more complete idea of the real me. That I can both be fashionably sexy and scholarly, which I think is my essence, really.

Which personality suits me best? I say both.

One more thing,  when our case study was distributed last week, results of our  midterms were also given. And what do you know… just when I thought I got a low mark, it was even higher than my grade in prelims. I even got a perfect score for strategic planning and team management! Whew! God is good! I hope I’d be able to maintain my “scholarly” ways when we start with Phase II of the training program on June 18 (minus the stress, depression and panic attacks please). 

A little photo op after our presentation. (L-R: Gene, me, our teachers Amy& Karen, my buddy Deity, & Alexis)

For now, it’s time to live life again!!! We’ll be packing our stuff little by little to be transfered to Alabang soon, plus, I now have time to go to the doctor for some check-ups (there’s this skin pigmentation I’m really worried about…I hope it’s not cancer…), read at least some of the books I bought from Powerbooks, watch dvds, go to Xaymaca, meet with friends, etc. I have 10 days to relax and just be me. I’m just not sure if we can have time to travel because of the house transfer thing… Oh well… soon.