All Expense Paid Trip courtesy of my Job: Market Research

Its been three years. Three years of pure enjoyment and lots of first time. I haven't told my stories of employment - how I managed to tour major cities in the Philippines for free - almost all expense paid. I never told this course I took, my choice of employment - responsibility wise and company wise will give me the opportunities of a lifetime.

I graduated at the age of 23. Yes, 3 years behind my batchmates. It was a long story, but after 3 years of trying and trying as a Chemical Engineering student, I finally gave up. I managed to change course - from Engineering to Mass Communication. I don't have regrets at all. Okay, my only regret maybe is that I should have transferred earlier. But nah, I won't be meeting up the people I have now. 

Anyhow, I am a proud graduate of Communication Research - sounds out of this world. I also find it hard to explain - what did we do, what do we do and where will it take us...took us for us graduate. CommRes, what we call it, is one heck of a course. No course is easy anyway. We were called "Thesis Gods and Goddesses". We breathe and eat research. We are the first ones in the libraries and the last one to leave. We don't have "spare" time - in between subjects were spent reading research journals, understanding people, behaviors, calculating statistics and many more. It looked and felt hard, but, we (as the BestCResBlockEver) managed to pass the course. 

After graduation (literally, days after I got my grades), I landed a job as a market researcher - a research executive to be exact. Working for a small, family-owned company is never easy, but it definitely give you lessons. I learned how to multi-task, how to deal with different kinds of people - clients and co-workers, how to manage budget, how to be a single research agency when all of it fails. My co-workers and I look forward to field research - the time that we will be out for a project, it may be a simple overnight to a province or a week-stay. There, we experienced how to deal with time - that every day, we should rest early and find time to relax. Fieldwork is never easy. 

After two years and more, I decided to change path. I applied for a Market Research Associate (yes, title wise, it was inferior to that executive position I had, but this time, it was for a multi-national company). Now, I am working as a Client for research agency and as an Agency for my Internal client. Responsibility wise, my new job requires more. I should be ready every time the Brand needs input. I should always be available - for a phone call or must answer text messages. 

However, fun will always be there. I just came back from a 6-day stay in Cebu. I managed to visit its major landmarks and crossed out another item in my bucket list - Butanding watching. All of these are all-expense paid. Staying in a hotel that lurks you to sleep (with snoring), a van service ready for your use, meeting new people in the big company. 

For the remainder of the year, I am looking for another experience, a new place to visit, new food to taste. My blog will definitely be revolving around these places. Who could pass it, its all expense paid anyway. :)