what drives me

I had a college instructor, a former auditor, telling the class her experiences as an auditor. She tells it with so much enthusiasm, providing us a vista of the auditing world. She tells of counting chickens and goats, overtimes, client meetings and furious bosses.

I thought, “No, I can’t live with that.”

A couple of weeks after the board exam, afraid of not finding a decent job, I submitted my resume to one of the biggest auditing firms. And I got hired.

In just a few weeks, I have made self-adjustments, and over time, I got used to it. Sleepless nights, overtimes, working weekends, forgotten holidays, Chowking and Tropical Hut, Hidden Tapsihan, traffic, inventory counts, laptop and working papers - these filled my three and a half years as an auditor. But honestly, I loved it. I got the chance to meet and talk to a lot of people from production staff to manager. I learned the art of multi-tasking (eating while working, thinking while eating and sleeping while thinking). I found out that I can survive three days and three nights with three hours of sleep. I discovered that I can endure twenty hours without food or drinks. I enjoyed counting logs while elevated in a forklift. I liked footing and crossfooting and checking wordings. Best of all, I got to build friendships which I can treasure, along with some happy and sad moments, videoke, summer outings, parties, and chit-chatting over ice cream.

Back then, my satisfaction would include fieldwork and closing meetings, newly printed financial statements, the I-know-something-you-don’t feeling, April 15 BIR and April 30 SEC deadline. Yes, quality in everything I do.

Eventually, I realized I never had the time to spend quality time with myself, and more importantly, with my family. Unsure of the path I am going to take, I made one of the biggest decisions and walked out of auditing with 95% fear and 5% excitement.

I am currently working in an organization which favors competence and quality, alongside safety and diversity. Luckily, I became part of a team composed of hyper individuals who takes their time to help. Here, I realized that it is okay to ask when you don’t know something, and that you need not experience a mistake in order to learn because you can always learn from the mistakes of others. I recognized that the others are just as crazy as I am.

Now, email pranks, picture taking, birthday greetings, corny jokes, outings and eating out fill my daily life outside of home. I enjoy being in the company of jolly colleagues and being able to have time for myself and my loved ones.