PROFILES: Kathleen L

Checking on old posts here on my blog, I stumbled on my old segment "PROFILES" which enabled me to interview two close people, one was my younger cousin Caren, and the other was my college professor and friend Maam Sheryl. It brought me back to memories that made me feel like a journalist, one of the thing I wanted when I was growing up. Then I thought, why not do it again and this time, since I also have a blog, I can also make my ambition to becoming a talk show host (I know I want a lot of things, but hey, as long as I can do them, why not right?). Luckily, I was blessed to have a friend who's always ready to support me in anything I want to do, I am blessed to have Kathleen.

Kathleen and I were classmates since freshman year in college up until we finished our Bachelor's Degree. After that, we also joined the academe as instructors, together with another classmate Jayson, and the three of us shared our teaching experiences for another five years!

PS It was Kathleen's Birthday last Saturday, so this post is like a birthday present for her (which she helped build right? HAHA)

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We both just finished our respective shifts at work in the comfort of our homes when we did this interview. She was feeling a bit nervous but I told her it's just both of us on the interview, and the whole world to watch and listen and read haha. Here are a few excerpts of our interview that was supposed to run for 8-10 minutes but finished at 26 minutes.

Kathleen, Me, and Jayson in a Jeepney in Northern Philippines

Stevenson Que: ...Right now, at your current job, maybe you can give us a background of what you are doing right now and why do you tend to stay. Because after teaching, you have been at your current job for five years now so in a way, you do love what you are doing. So maybe you can share with us what you are doing now.

Kathleen L: So I've been in my current job right for five years now, Yes to me, 'coz it's a very good milestone for me being in a company for five years. So for a little background I am doing technical stuff, doing script programming, attending to technical issues of the people. I have to handle some of the projects that are given to me, especially with the emergency policies that we have in the company. And yes, I do love what I'm doing because at first, joining the company, I have been into the re-engineering process, wherein I used to come up with training materials, and eventually handling some of the training myself which I love.

"So what makes me stay with my company?

I always say it's the people. I have colleagues

who turned to be like family to me,

trustworthy people who you can lean from and

also learn something from them. 

I value those people." 

Stevenson Que: Oh it's like you were also like a teacher for the company.

Kathleen L: Yes, and what makes it fun is that you are learning more things that you didn't know, and when you are learning new things, you tend to love what you are doing, because you handle it very well. And after a few months of handling re-engineering, I was moved to tech support, which is slightly a bit of development, project management, and also giving training sessions to people. So what makes me stay with my company? I always say it's the people. I have colleagues who turned to be like family to me, trustworthy people who you can lean from and also learn something from them. I value those people. 

Kathleen L: It is also worth mentioning that don't be scared on trying something that is not familiar with you because in the process, you are gonna learn all those things with the people behind you that will let you learn all those things. And now, you know what? I just wanna go back to teaching and share all that I have learned to the students. When you are just full of knowledge, you just wanna share it to others so I will not lose it.

Millenials

Stevenson Que: Kathleen, we belong to the millennial age, we belong to that generation that people have been telling that we are indecisive and immature, but in the same time creative and brave. I believe in that, creative and brave! that we are not afraid of what we want and we are not afraid of what we want to do. What can you say about those traits that are being linked to becoming a millennial? Do you agree one them or do you somehow disagree?

Bali, Indonesia - 2019

Kathleen L: I disagree on those things like for the indecisive and unstable. because if you are learning new things, you are not indecisive, you are not unstable because you wanna learn. You wanna learn the process, you wanna go into different skills, so if you are already stable for a long time, it only means you are stagnant. 

Stevenson Que: Ugh! Perfect!

Kathleen L: Your knowledge is not improving anymore.

"...if you are already stable for a long time,

it only means you are stagnant."

Stevenson Que: I really agree and I would like to emphasize on what you said about learning, because millennial really learn not just from books and from trainings. I think one thing that millennials have to be proud of is that we can learn by ourselves. And it's not a hard task for us to be given a different task and then we learn it for ourselves and people would say "Oh that's just because you are talented", No! Because we are not afraid of clicking buttons, we are not afraid of trying something new, we just always know that there's a cancel button just in case it's not gonna work out. At the same time, we know when to stop. We just know when to stop if it's not for us. We don't just make ourselves stuck on a situation or on a level that would become very stagnant. We want improvement, not just for our lives but also for the companies that we work in. We want improvement for them

Kathleen L: Yes, because actually, we are promoting continuous improvement, like we have files that we need to improve for the long term.

A decade after graduation - Mark, Me, Kathleen, Florence, and Zarah - February 2020

To those that feel lost

Stevenson Que: Before we wrap this interview Kathleen, this is for all the millennials out there like us, who are wondering what life is. Just like what we have discussed earlier, one thing that best describes a millennial is is continuous growth, and trying a lot of things, and doing what you love. 

Kathleen L: Exactly.

Stevenson Que: But at times, for some of the millenials that look for those, for things that they love, they tend to just try and try everything until they just don't know anymore what they love, what would be your advise for those millennials who feel lost? Like, they just don't know what to do anymore, they just become burned-out, like, those that are stuck are continuously stuck, and then we have those that are quickly jumping from work to another work, to another position, to another company. What would you advise them?

Bali, Indonesia - 2019

Kathleen L: Actually at today's [theme?], I can simply say that we are all wondering about what's ahead of us, what will be our life?

Stevenson Que: This new normal

Kathleen L: Yes, but then, my message would be, hold on everyone. Because there will be things, like, maybe a change? maybe a vaccine? or instances that will make our life change, so hold on. And actually, I would like to give an advise to my co-millennials out there, that as long as you're making progress with yourself, you are in a right place. 

"...you measure success when

you are in the phase of helping people"

Kathleen Lumandas: And aside from those, do not measure your success by [new] things, by the latest ones, the latest gadgets. But then you measure success when you are in the phase of helping people, because it means you are rich with time, you can spare your time, and spare your resources. So for me, you are successful when you are helping people, because you have more than enough to share- your resources and your time. So don't be discouraged and hold on, seek help, if you need a specialist, or your friends. Don't close doors. Because if you wanna seek help, you wanna get better.

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For those who would like to watch the full interview, I have shared my VLOG episode below on a segment I called "QUEUE-stions". Hope you enjoy all 26 minutes of  our interview. I asked Kathleen that our interview be in full English for this first episode so that I can shre it specifically with you, my blog friends from around the world, our thoughts and insights. Enjoy!

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PROFILES is a segment on my blog which will be a one-on-one interview with an interesting personality, as I ask them to share a page of their life as they know it. I've always wanted to be a journalist so this is my way of feeding my hunger for that little taste of being a host. Through this blog, this world that I can call my own, this is my talk-show.
Would you be willing to be my next guest? Just let me know :)