Everything Happens for a Reason

Holy week is a solemn week of reflection about Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, that’s why it is said to be a wonderful time to attend masses, bible studies, and retreats. Some people enjoy their vacation by going to beaches; do some extreme sports, nature tripping, and a lot more.

But, I’ve chosen to be with my relatives, contemplated about the Word of God, the blessings that I’ve received for the past years, and attended the Triduum Mass.

I also recalled my past experiences, my achievements, and the problems that I conquered. These experiences help me develop my leadership skills, and attained the job position that I desired.


A Blast from the Past

During my college days, I was one of the active students who always participate in school events. I’m an active member of AMA Microsystems and Philippine Institute of Computer Engineering Students. These two IT organizations help AMA students by providing training and seminars. As a one of the leaders, I conducted review classes, mentoring to students, and became an adviser for design projects.

My father died when I was in 2nd year college because of cancer. We were having a financial problem that time, which may result me to stop pursuing my studies. But I’ve decided to take a part-time job, and I was employed in a fast food chain as a service crew. Although I discern that it is difficult, I made this decision in order to help my mother in all our financial expenses.  This setup greatly affects my performance. My grades went down; there are times that I didn’t have an adequate sleep, and I don’t have time to review my lessons prior to taking the exams. After six months, I made a decision to quit my part-time job and focus on my studies. I’m very grateful that my mother understands my situation. I resort to help her in our canteen business every morning before attending my classes.


 As a Trainer, an Environmentalist, and a Choir member

Meeting new people is my passion, that’s why I really love to join organizations. At the age of 9, I was invited by our parish priest to join the Knights of the Altar and became an acolyte (altar server), and then later I became a choir member for our church. From that experience, I became closer to God and knowledgeable about the Bible. Serving God is priceless; I believe that you must put God first in your life than anyone else. Singing and praising Him is really great experience.

Allan Mejia with the Bukas Palad Music Ministry 

I also got an opportunity to be part of the Bukas Palad Online Community Choir, met the Bukas Palad Music Ministry, and sing with them, especially on their regular church services, and events.

Our parish priest appointed me to conduct training about computer for the Silbi Libis Project. My students were our parishioners who want to develop their computer skills.



Teaching with different types of people is really a challenge. I have students who were younger and older than me. Still, the project became successful.

And then I became an active member and a volunteer for Mother Earth Foundation. I conducted training on Solid Waste Management, and participated in events together with other non-government organizations. I created and maintained the organization’s website, made brochures, pamphlets, and manuals.


Working at IBM

Working at IBM is a great opportunity. I was given a chance to lead projects, work with different nationalities, and excel in my profession.

I was assigned as technical support lead for 3 accounts; Airline, Online marketing, and Apple. Because of our dedication and good performance, our team received an IBM Ovation Award.

And then, I became a Desktop Engineering Specialist, my responsibility is similar to a Subject Matter Expert (SME). I’m the contact person for all support and production applications, and became the project lead for application and desktop deployments, as well as TSE Team Lead.


The Project Move

The Project Move is the most challenging project that I engaged with, wherein we have to move our entire infrastructure from EDSA Square to Hanston Square. The first challenge is that, we only have three weeks to accomplish the task, and we must move the accounts without disruption in the operations.

We transferred the accounts one by one, and making sure that upon transferring the accounts, there will be no problems on network, as well as in the applications. Unexpectedly, we experienced a lot challenge, since network specialists haven’t configured yet the accounts’ network. Even the domain services are unreachable, which caused the delay in the project.

And since I’m the lead for desktop deployments, I began to coordinate with the other specialists, and guided the Technical Support Team for testing and troubleshooting. Given that a lot of LOBs are already transferred in the new site, we have to support them 24/7, which had caused me a lot of extended hours and sleepless nights. Every time we encounter a problem we must immediately fix and coordinate the impacted constituencies within the IT team, and our clients.


Desire for Advancement and Expanding My Network

APC Buddies

I began studying new technologies, and became an IT Certified Professional for Microsoft and VMware. I also gained an ITILv3 Foundation Certification for IT Service Management. Gaining Microsoft Certification in Windows Server 2008 led me to become a Systems Administrator, and became an Operations Lead for Server Compliance Team. 
I attended a lot of soft skills training, by which really help me develop my leadership skills.


Since I’m aiming for a Technical Management position; I’ve decided to pursue my Master’s Degree in Information Systems in Asia Pacific College.

I joined the Microsoft Partner Network to be more knowledgeable on Microsoft products, and became a Pre-Sales Technical Specialist for Private Cloud: Management and Virtualization.

Since I want to expand my professional network, I signed up and became an active member of the following organizations: Philippine IT Organization (Phil-IT Org), Philippine Computer Society (PCS), and Wikimedia Philippines.


IT Architect Mentoring Program

I was inspired by the Growth Market Units (GMUs), and became interested in the IT Architect profession. IT Architects have both technical and management skills/capabilities.  Fortunately, I've got a mentor from Singapore. He is an Infrastructure Architect. I already took up the initial courses for IT Architect. I arrange meeting with my mentor every month in order to track my development. I’m very grateful because I have the support of my manager in pursuing this profession.

All these experiences mold me to become a good leader. It is truly, that everything happens for a reason. You will definitely learn from your experiences. Every challenge is an opportunity. And lastly, feedback is a gift, because it gives you a room for improvement.

The 4 Cs of leadership that shines in me: Character, Competence, Concern, and Communication.


“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."  -- John Quincy Adams --