1. A lesson on handling irate
complaints
After only a few days of obtaining my
first customer service related job, I
received my first irate call from a
customer complaining about the
service he was receiving from the
company. The situation became even
more challenging when the customer
started to curse and use profane
language to express his displeasure.
After several minutes I managed to
calm the customer down by
empathizing with the him and using
call-control techniques that I have
learned prior to that day. My take-
away from that experience is that
effective communication skills are a
valuable asset to have, especially
when dealing with volatile situations
like the one that I have just
illustrated.

2. Perspective matters
 On March of 2009, I had the opportunity of visiting the country of
my birth for the first time after moving to Canada as a child.
Personally, I did not know what to expect from the trip and
approached it as nothing more than another excursion. After
several weeks I found myself involved in missionary-trips to rural
areas of the country. The exposure to the sub-par living conditions
of the residents of these rural areas taught me a lesson about
putting my own situation into perspective and realizing how
fortunate I am to be living in a country like Canada.

3. The importance of getting the facts
straight
During the duration of my stay in the
Philippines, from my trip in 2009, I had
my first experience in being in the
middle of a large hostile protest.
Tensions were rising between
government personnel and local
residents and I was advised by a friend
who was also at the event to seek
refuge in case the situation gets violent.
Following my instincts I was to go
towards the armed guards who were all
equipped with semi-automatic rifles.
Ater a couple of hours the protests
ended and fortunately no one was hurt.
After the event, I spoke with another
friend and told him of what I did during
the time. He said that my actions were
wrong and that I should not have
approached the armed guards because
I would end up being in he middle of the
violence in case the situation does
escalate. I learn that it is very important
to get the facts straight before taking

4. A LESSON ON
PERSEVERANCE
On a Friday night in December 2009, I was preparing myself to compete for the
annual Provincial ‘Thai-boxing’ tournament held in Burlington, Ontario. Only 12
hours away from the event and still several pounds from my target weight when I
unexpectedly had to accompany a family member to the hospital for an
emergency. We ended up staying at the hospital until 4 AM Friday morning. That
same Friday - needless to say - I was exhausted from cutting weight and tired from
having only three hours of sleep. I fought provincial-level athletes in the tournament
and ended up finishing 2nd in the event, bowing-out from the Final match due to an
injury sustained from an earlier bout. Although I was initially unsure of the outcome
of my participation because of the prior events leading up to the tournament, I still
displayed a good showing in the event and learned an unforgettable lesson about
pushing through difficult circumstances.

5. Education and learning
In 2011, I started attending a diploma-course in Tyndale University aimed towards
professionals and church-leaders. Initially, I felt very uncomfortable with the class because
majority of the people that I was sitting with were highly-educated. Some had their doctorates,
some were previous University professors, some were seasoned Pastors while I at the time was
still working on obtaining my 2-year diploma from Centennial College. After the duration of the
course I have gotten use to the class’ dynamics and learned a lesson on the importance of
continuously learning and seeking further education for the purpose of self-improvement.