From A to Z

Z

Despite the disappointments, life went on for Adam.

After going around the different departments of their company, he finally completed his management trainee program and was delegated to the Project Department which oversees the different projects won by their company. He was hoping to be assigned to the Technical Department because he felt that his engineering knowledge would be put to good use there, but he accepted the assignment given to him. At least in the Project Department, he would be away from Gabriel.

Eventually, after months of shadowing his peers in some of their company's existing projects, Adam was given an opportunity to manage a project of his own. But first, he must win it. Technically, it is their Marketing Department's task to pitch — and of course, win — projects. However, the management put this up as a challenge to Adam.

He was a little hesitant about it because he felt that it was a bit too early for him to have a break. Some of his co-workers have been with the company for a decade already — or even longer — but they have not been given the same opportunity being offered to Adam. Yet, he knew he could not turn down the offer because it would leave a bad impression on his work ethic; it could affect his chances of getting a promotion. Moreover, he was a graduate of their company's management trainee program, and graduates like him were expected to accept challenges like this whenever the management asks them to. And so, he did.

Adam has a second reason for his hesitation: the pre-bidding orientation would be held in Los Baños. Los Baños is the municipality right after Calamba; meaning, he needed to drive by the place which he vowed not to go back to. Unfortunately, there was no turning back now. Besides, he would only pass by his hometown. There would be no harm in that, right?

It was not Adam's first time to be in Los Baños, but it was his first time to enter the University of the Philippines in Los Baños where his client, a social enterprise, was headquartered.

Unlike St. Joseph, the university has an expansive campus. Located at the foot of Mt. Makiling, it has multiple buildings, ranging from two storeys to four storeys in height, most of which were clustered near the entrance of the university. Its campus extends itself to the neighboring municipality of Bay where the International Rice Research Institute, along with its vast research field, and the Institute of Plant Breeding under the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences are located. The university also extends up to Mt. Makiling itself where the College of Forestry and Natural Resources and the university-managed Mount Makiling Forest Reserve are located.

Well known for its agriculture and forestry degrees, the university has multiple greeneries, from different types of trees — some of which are centuries old already — spread in the whole expanse of the campus to well-tended grasses in their fields and parks. Mt. Makiling at its background even made the place more alluring.

It was such a refreshing sight for Adam. He felt as if he was in a different world, in a place where the beauty of nature was maintained and respected. While Calamba shares Mt. Makiling with Los Baños, it was only now that he has seen the true beauty of the mountain and has truly appreciated its magnificence.

His client, Banyuhay Corporation, was located in the SEARCA Building, the building behind the Oblation statue and the Old Humanities Building. The enterprise was owned by three graduates of the university. It started as a study hub for students; hence, the place was called "Productivity Café." Apart from being a study hub, the café also employed students from the university to help them support their studies and their daily needs. Eventually, the company launched various programs, such as feeding programs and scholarship programs, to help poverty-stricken children in Los Baños.

With the café's success, the owners decided to expand their enterprise to help more students and more children by establishing branches primarily near universities in Metro Manila. This project, if ever won by Adam, would require them to design and renovate ten branches for the enterprise with a total contract value of twenty-five million pesos. Should this client be satisfied with their work, they might be tapped again for another project — and every good thing will follow.