Learn about our response to COVID-19 Read Here
When you’re the youngest in a big Filipino family, you’re perceived the luckiest. Not exactly in terms of household responsibilities, but the youngest is often showered with favorable attention. Parents and older siblings are always there for help and guidance, which can sometimes result in being too dependent on others.
To some extent, April believed this. She’s the youngest of five siblings and recalls her younger days as a timid and shy girl. But life sure has its ways of surprising us, benefiting those who are prepared and willing to embrace change.
Discovering Sense of Self
Things started to change the more April confronted the realities of life. The nursing profession is a noble vocation, but the demands and responsibilities made it hard for April to achieve work-life balance. “Hospital work is not for me,” she said, but it made her wonder what’s next for her.
“It’s not that I don’t want to pursue my medical career,” she explains, “it feels like there must be something out there that best fits me.” Being a nurse and a medical assistant are two of the most sought-after careers in the growing healthcare industry. With medical technologies in constant progress, there’s always something new to learn. After all, not all nurses work in hospitals. Some simply choose to work in a different healthcare setting, and that’s when April’s Xilium journey as a VMA began.
“Here in Xilium, I’m still practicing my profession but in a different setting since we’re working with medical professionals based in the US,” April said. This made her one part proud and one part pressured. Though nothing less of a challenge, she began to love her job and it brought out the best in her. She’s glad to have generous colleagues who helped her learn the ropes, similar to how her family supported her.
Being surrounded by tenured and dedicated teammates urged April to step up her game. She took this as an opportunity to hone her skills, be her own advocate, and compete with herself. She built herself up especially in her role as a VMA, and this helped her to consistently improve. She strived and worked hard. Her dedication and efficiency were evident, and traits like these don’t go unnoticed in the company.
Learning for Personal Growth
“My work experience here at Xilium has been a fast journey over the last three years,” April stated. “Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself,” she added as she fondly recalls her experiences from day one. Now carrying out new responsibilities, April’s daily life is a challenge. She never imagined herself to find excitement with the unknown, but thrilled she is.
Dealing with the whole new dynamics made April realize she needed to be more, so she took advantage of the lockdown. Her favorite past-time now? Watching informative videos that would help her develop these “essential” skills.
She used her spare time during quarantine to research on topics like data analysis, reading market trends, and other marketing and IT-related skills. She also indulged in vlogs and infographics. She knows she can’t simply DIY all this, so an overview is enough for now.
To nurture her creative side, she has taken to indulging in crafts and DIYs. Her latest project was a Halloween costume she made from scratch. She also discovered that she could pass for a cinephile — loving more movies and shows with her free time during lockdown.
When asked what is the one thing most memorable, if not the most important, lesson she learned in her time working with the company, she reminisced, “I have had to learn, unlearn, and re-learn [many things].”
Striving For More
Three years of work at Xilium didn’t dim April’s zeal for work. What’s more, as someone who enjoys gaining new skills, she keeps her doors wide open to new knowledge. With new VMAs coming in, April has a few important pieces of advice for them, “It’s important to invest in a workplace where you can grow.”
She also added, “The best decisions don’t always make you popular. Sometimes they’re the ones that make you happy.” April’s journey to becoming the best version of herself is rewarding, both professionally and personally. But for her, it’s still an ongoing journey.
After picking up a fiction novel at the age of ten, Jess Gayo thought she wanted to read and write forever. That’s why she took up English Literature in university. Before becoming a writer in Xilium, she was a contributing writer and editor for an international news and lifestyle outlet.
