Week 4: On-the-job Training ✨
"Seeing your daily grind as an end in itself instead of just a means to your end." - it's from an article that I've red (人 •͈ᴗ•͈) ---
This week at PPPC was all about preparation and surprises! Last week, I mentioned that we were gearing up for the upcoming Valentine’s Day event, and this week, I got to be hands-on with the planning and execution. One of my main tasks was assisting with event preparations. We were assigned different roles, and I was in charge of cutting printed materials to decorate our "FEB-IBIG Express" Freedom Wall—basically a space where anyone could post their thoughts or sweet messages. Designing it with colorful printed figures was unexpectedly fun, and I never thought I’d get to use my creative side like this during my internship—oh we also had photo booth by the way. I worked on this with Carmela Shane, an intern from Veritas who is also assigned to HR. Over time, we got to know each other better, which was really nice. I’d often ask if she needed help or just start random conversations, and it was great learning about her personality. We also helped Ma’am Lanny and Ma’am Rizza with various tasks. One of them was cleaning the projector screen in the locker area. Ma’am Lanny asked us to find alcohol to clean it, and I volunteered to go back to the office to get some rubbing alcohol. But… I made the mistake of forgetting to wear my ID. The security guard called me out, and I had to explain that I did have an ID—I just forgot to wear it after lunch. It was a bit embarrassing, but I took it as a lesson in being more responsible. Definitely won’t make that mistake again!
Aside from that, last time I helped Ate Salud put up reminders about the Free Eye Check-up for all PPPC employees, scheduled for February 13-14. Meanwhile, Ma’am Lanny invited vendors for the event, including a flower seller and M&M Creations, a team that makes digital art on wood—really cool stuff! Another fun task was printing and cutting large letters in Excel. Carms and I chatted and asked each other questions while working, which made the task more enjoyable. Since there was a program, the team suggested having an intermission number. That’s when things got interesting… they pointed at me and said I should dance! Apparently, they had never seen me perform, even though I had mentioned being a dancer. I felt shy and a bit pressured because, unlike in school where I dance with a troupe, this time I’d be performing alone. But hey, new experiences are part of growth, right?
When the eye check-up event arrived, Ate Des was super busy, so she left me in charge of monitoring late arrivals and over-breaks in the DTR system. Just when I was about to finish, I noticed the names had disappeared! I panicked, not knowing what I clicked. Luckily, Ate Jas saw me struggling and started laughing—it turned out the list was just filtered. That was a funny (but slightly stressful) moment, but I finished the task and arranged the papers properly. Furthermore, Ma’am Rizza assigned me to input the Daily Time Record (DTR) of doctors and physicians for November and December. She handed me a paper and told me to find a specific file. The problem? She had given me a completely different file name. I spent about 30 minutes scrolling through the system, getting more confused by the second. I even asked Ate Des for help, but she couldn’t find it either. Eventually, when I got the chance to ask Ma’am Rizza, she realized her mistake and admitted she had given me the wrong file name. That moment was both frustrating and funny—definitely an epic learning experience!
And after all our hard work, Ma’am Rizza treated us a Jollibee meal—free meals always make things better! And What's sweet was I also received some chocolates on Valentine's day from the HRD clerks and a handmade flower 🌻 really coolsome (cool & awesome)
This week was a mix of creativity, problem-solving, and stepping out of my comfort zone. I never expected preparing for a solo dance, work on creative tasks, and handle responsibilities on my own. Mistakes were made, but hey—that’s part of the learning experience, I guess that’s the beauty of an internship—you never know what you'll learn next!