January 7th, 2007
Reflections on 2006 and Plans for 2007
2006 was supposed to be a year of change, a year for testing relationships (citation: El) and maybe, to some extent, transcending one's self.
That's exactly what it was for me, I think. While I could have done better (there's always room for improvement) , I'm proud of what I've accomplished for the year.
I overcame so many fears--fear of volleyball (a major phobia since my gradeschool days). fear of knowing no one in class. fear of fine dining. of being the only girl in a group of boys. of awkwardness. of failure. This is of course on a case-to-case basis still... until now I need to muster guts to go to social gatherings knowing only one or two people... but it's slowly becoming more natural to me, and i'm learning not to panic when there are lulls in conversations or topics I can't relate to.
I also became significantly less prudish and yet managed to stay true to my personal values. Hurray for middle ground!
I met wonderful new friends and got to re-know old ones. Which was the definite highlight of my year. And I can cook pancakes now! And I lost some weight! And I played with my band and wrote a new song, something I haven't done since I stepped into college, I think.
While there were two instances in 2006 where I literally felt like my heart was wrenched out of my chest, it was a great year. I'll count the heartaches as birthing pains, necessary evils for a better Estelle... and yes, I'm thankful for them too.
Plans for 2007
New Year's Resolutions are many, but only one got 3 stars (meaning top priority): get a job and keep it. Hehe. Which is not as easy as it seems :p
Been working since Tuesday (half-day work only. Full day, and sometimes over-overtime since) at my mom's office. Nepotism, but it's tough work, largely because since I live with my boss, I'm on call *all* the time. And since there are only 5 of us working on rushing a jobs fair for February 2, with only 3 of us doing both logistics and marketing... it's been a baptism of fire. especially for someone who's admittedly lazy and inexperienced, like me.
In the last 5 days of work (yes, I put in some hours Saturday and Sunday too), I have finished editing at least 200 sponsorship and participant letters, only to have to edit them again because there were changes in pricing. I also had to secure Market! Market! as our venue, which was fairly easy. Looking for a good booth contractor (especially when we didn't know where to *find* booth contractors) took a little bit more effort. I also met up with DOLE representatives, potential sponsors. Canvassed companies that rented out sound systems, stages, stancheons, plasma tvs, barricades, tents! Negotiated with and booked them too. In between all these I faxed and called companies, worried myself to death with Camille (my bestfriend and also marketing partner) over the event, and stole as much time as I could to be with him, or think about him, or watch fireworks (hehe, pyro olympics rocks).
Sounds easy, and it is. But it can get stressful and overwhelming, what with all the different types of work you have to do, all at the same time and with so little time to do them all. It's also very exciting, which is why I really can't complain.
It's 2:40 a.m. and I have around 3 to 4 more hours of sleep left (since I need to leave the house by 8, and well. it takes me an hour to get out of bed and get ready). Tomorrow, deadliest deadline for sending out all sponsorship and participant letters (dapat lang 'no. we faxed sponsorship letters last week, but my mom insists we send them a formal, hand-delivered letter too. she says that's the least we could do if we're going to ask them for money, hehe. that makes sense), settling all contractors and securing job fair lay-out. New letters need to be written, one of which is for my other bestfriend, Bessy Celle, who handles requests for wave 89.1 (nudge, nudge). On top of that, I'm informed that try-outs is tomorrow... 4 rounds. I wonder how the hell I'll make it. But I have to try. *sigh*
I really should sleep now. I worry that my new outbreak of pimples (agh, the bane of my existence) is actually caused by insufficient rest and stress. Which doesn't really help because having these outbreaks stress me out even more, hence the vicious cycle.
Must. stop. typing. Other New Year's Resolutions (ohhh I have at least 10) to follow. Bye.
