Endings are Beginnings

Yesterday was my last day in the office and as expected, I had a massive ‘separation anxiety’ attack. Ugh.

I was well aware that I was hardly smiling the whole day and that I spoke very little. But what could I do? As a self-confessed emo person, I found it odd and extremely difficult to look at myself, struggling to deal with particularly ‘challenging’ emotions. So I just tried (in vain) to focus on the remaining tasks at hand, doing all that I still had to do---sort out files, complete endorsement/clearance documents, among others.

I’ve always said that I treat work as if it were a real, living relationship. With HealthPRO, I must admit that it’s a classic case of “nagkadevelop-an.” Sure, the first time I heard about it, I found its focus and strategy very interesting; I’ve always considered health and behavior change communication as major fields of interest and concern. But I must admit, the spark initially wasn’t there (at least the way I was head-over-heels when I joined the UN).

But throughout my stay, I realized that I've never seen an organization that really took care of me the way HealthPRO did. I mean, seriously—everyone’s just deadly efficient. On the administrative side, rules and processes were in place so I never had perennial, pain-in-the-neck, business processes-related problems.  Work-wise, there was no dearth of people to learn from. Each of my colleagues were brilliant in their own way, and were very accommodating in sharing their knowledge too.

Everyone valued hard work, but know just as well the need to take a breather every now and then. After X years, I finally know how and when to schedule leaves! For once, I also had longer hours outside of work. My boss espouses the whole "work smart" mantra; that means, no uber long working hours, and more time for oneself, friends and family.

My despedida 2 days before my last day in the office.  So. much. food. (burp). Thanks to the team for the overwhelming potluck (this photo does not give justice). We still had enough left-overs to enjoy the day after, imagine that! Goodness me had to deal with onion-cutting ninjas, haha.

Moreover, the thing about working in the field of health promotion is that the life-saving information and lessons I've so far learned are so practical, I find myself applying these in my everyday life. There is that natural, stress-free ‘blending in’ of my work with the real world, I'd like to think... except that I might have to wait a little more to find practical applications for some tips on safe motherhood, children’s health, planning one’s family, etc. haha =P

Truly, I’ve grown so much personally and professionally during my stay with my HealthPRO family!

The day I was mistaken as one of the country's lady mayors =P

I'm really hopeful that many of our LCEs will continue to champion health . 

Let's save more mothers, children and families!

Did I mention that I'm a big fan of our kick-ass, super fun contests and dress-up days? We have one not just during Halloween, but on random holidays and occasions!

December: Christmas Cubicle (won a basket full of goodies!)  and Glam Rock Christmas with Honey and Socs :)

January: Chinese New Year---come in red. I chose to wear a black and red cheongsam =P

February: S-F (Sweet and Funny, Semi-Formal) Valentine   March: International Women's Day---come in purple! June:  Independence Day---come wearing one or  a combination of the colors in the Philippine flag.

Hopeful,