My Next Great Adventure
This was my NGA (Next Great Adventure) story at the Acton School of Business, as part of our culmination rites.
This was my NGA (Next Great Adventure) story at the Acton School of Business, as part of our culmination rites.
WHO I AM NOW?
When I was a child, I followed all the rules. The only place I broke the rules was in my mind. I’d dream about princesses and dragons, but instead of being saved by a knight in shining armor, I imagined princesses saving the world. In grade school, I found a pile of labels for a can of tuna and created a booklet out of it. It awakened in me the passion for creating and writing stories.
And then one day, I grew up. I come from a family without entrepreneurs so I thought that I should find a stable job to be successful. I told myself that my dream of becoming an author was far from reality. Therefore, I studied accounting despite not liking numbers. But I told myself that if I followed all the rules and never quit, I will make it in the world. I felt like one fish among many, swimming with the current.
And then, I started working. I realized that school didn’t prepare me for the real world. As a CPA, I did compliance and had to master tax laws. But I soon discovered I could never make my work perfect. I felt that I didn’t fit in, but I told myself “to never quit”. I felt like a fish who was called to fly, but was stuck swimming with the current.
Then one day, I had to make a quick decision. I had to pack my bags within three days and fly 600 miles to move from the branch office with 50 employees to the headquarters with 6,000 employees. I had to leave tax behind, and do consulting instead. I then discovered that the new project didn’t have rules, so I had to author the rules. With discomfort, I shifted my mindset from searching for tax errors to solving problems. That was where I found my strength was not in the numbers and looking out for errors, but in creating solutions aligned with the client’s stories. And then it hit me, I am a fish who could break the rules and swim against the current.
Over the next few years, I thought that I had my life figured out. I continued climbing the corporate ladder, but I soon realized it was lonely at the top. I felt that something was still missing, but I kept going. I told myself, don’t quit, this is the right place to be.
Until one year ago, I saw a banner that asked “Are you everything you could be?” This question provoked me as if I was meant to ask myself, “yes, you are a fish who could swim against the current but WHAT IF YOU CAN FLY?”
That banner was the call to action to join the Peterson Cohort at the Acton School of Business. So with shaking hands and an uncertain future, I answered the call. It scared me, but I told myself, “If it scares you, then maybe it’s all the more reason you should do it!” So I mustered all my courage to quit my career in the corporate world so that I may jump into the unknown. I packed my bags once again, uprooted my life from the Philippines, flew halfway across the world to Austin and find out for myself, WHAT IF I WAS A FISH WHO WAS MEANT TO FLY?
At Acton, I was called to go out on a hero’s journey and saw the importance of stories. My experience re-awakened my passion for creativity and writing once more.
It happened during the digital sim week, where we had to sell a meal replacement drink. It was a product with a purpose and an edge, but it was one that I thought tasted horrible. They say it can be an acquired taste. But true to the Acton fashion, I stepped in the shoes of a customer and advocated as if I truly believed in it. Soon, I found myself creating stories, campaigning relentlessly, and experimenting with different messages along with my peers. I used to hate sales and marketing, but I learned that when I work with people who believe in me and our team, we can use our creative energy in places where we least expect it.
I am now one day away from graduation, closer to have a peek behind the curtain as I embark on my Next Great Adventure. There is one more thing I know now, and that I am fish who can not only swim against the current, but can also emerge above the water and fly!
WHERE I AM HEADED AND WHY?
NOW, IMAGINE A WORLD where the greatest untapped natural resource is fully developed and made available for the benefit of all. I’m not talking about minerals nor natural gas, but rather the genius trapped within each human being. What if we are able to find a way to rapidly discover a person’s unique gifts, strengths and callings, and develop them fully so their contribution in life is their unique creative gift that is unleashed into the world? What kind of world would be born if the genius hidden in each person was drawn out to impact and elevate others? Imagine a world where everyone started out in life knowing they were created to fly?
This is the promise of the educational revolution that is upon us. It is where education is personal, agile, and modular.
My own journey of discovery led me to want to take an active role in this revolution by designing a more personalized learning experience to help others discover that they too can fly.
I want to create opportunities for people like me to be guided on their journey of self-discovery with the help of emerging technologies that is already transforming the way the world learns.
Specifically, I want to contribute as a project manager — implementing solutions and getting things done. I want to stand between the current reality and the future possibility. I want to be on the ground with my hands at work — to build things, equip people, and tell stories THAT CHANGE LIVES.
WHAT I NEED AND WHAT I PROMISE IN RETURN
So here is my big ask — I need your help to introduce me to people and companies who are in the mission to help people become lifelong learners and have the vision of technology supporting this new way of learning; I’d love to have the opportunity to use my gifts and work with them to make this into reality.
I bet you’re wondering, how could a Filipina with a student visa be able to work legally in the US? This is where I have an even bigger ask, I need people who are willing to invest in me and sponsor a paid internship or employment in the US. I’m looking for a stepping stone project, a stepping stone opportunity — a place where I can earn experience, learn, build and create value for other people. I am also willing to take remote projects while we go through a lengthy immigration process. Years down the road, I want to bring all the tools and experience I have gained back to the Philippines so that I may also share what this great nation is already ahead in terms of the advancement of education.
If you help me embark on my stepping stones journey, I promise in return to be committed to get the job done. I’ll be dedicated to the level of detail as needed, create structure — where there is none, find opportunities for people to leverage their strengths. I’ll setup the teams, lead on the sideline and make sure operations work to create value, on time and within budget.
Also, I promise to pass along your favor and pay-it-forward to the next person who stands in the same place that I am now and help him embark on his stepping stones journey. Lastly, once I’ve settled my financial obligations out of Acton, I promise to sponsor another young and hopeful Filipina like me, so she may experience radical transformation and embark on her next great adventure at Acton.
Thank you for coming here to listen to my story. I would also like to thank my classmates who have been through a shared experience of learning and unlearning, my own journey of transformation has been amplified being surrounded by intelligent and resilient people as you are. I’d also like to thank Brandon for helping me shift my mindset during the 1st semester when I was about to quit. I’d also thank Michael S., my running partner who held me accountable during the 1st semester to always give my all — he also helped me add more depth in my NGA pitch. I also want to thank Michael C., who knocked more than 300 doors with me during the sales challenge and gave me the badge to “make it to the pit”. I want to thank Zach who taught me how leaning forward made all the difference between being ineffective vs. assertive at the pit — your advice has been a game-changer. And lastly, I want to thank Ed Perry for showing what “magic” is like, and proving that it exists as a conversation deep within the soul — as an exchange between two human beings.
To close, I have one last call. I hope that we can all take an active part in inspiring people become lifelong learners and be active contributors in helping transform the way the world learns.
Finally, the next time you hear a person say that he is lacking and limiting himself from his potential, I hope you remember today and challenge him with the question, BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN FLY?
Delivered as a live speech at ASB, Austin on December 13, 2019
You may also watch the full speech in this link.