{"id":12223,"date":"2016-06-30T17:11:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T17:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keblog.demoapp.xyz\/?p=12223"},"modified":"2022-10-19T04:55:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T04:55:56","slug":"how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up","title":{"rendered":"How This Call Center Agent Managed to Finish Her Degree at UP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.\u00a0But for Karla Gonzales,\u00a0she didn&#8217;t have a lot of\u00a0lemons to begin with, and didn&#8217;t\u00a0exactly have the smoothest ride to reach where she is right\u00a0now. Despite the odds, this hard-working lady\u00a0overcame and surpassed the difficulties\u00a0with flying &#8216;maroon&#8217; colors. Karla juggled\u00a0between being an operations executive in a call center and studying (and finishing!) civil engineering in University of the Philippines Diliman. It wasn&#8217;t really the most ideal\u00a0position to be in for a 22 year old. But with the strength and values\u00a0that was instilled to her when she was young, you could tell she had the makings of champion.<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_26 counter-hierarchy\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TOPICS<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"display: none;\"><label for=\"item\" aria-label=\"Table of Content\"><i class=\"ez-toc-glyphicon ez-toc-icon-toggle\"><\/i><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up\/#Getting_through_the_obstacles\" title=\"Getting through the\u00a0obstacles\">Getting through the\u00a0obstacles<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up\/#The_ups_downs_and_in_betweens\" title=\"The ups, downs, and in betweens\">The ups, downs, and in betweens<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up\/#The_strength_and_backbone_of_success\" title=\"The\u00a0strength and\u00a0backbone of success\">The\u00a0strength and\u00a0backbone of success<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up\/#If_you_could_give_a_piece_of_advice_to_your_peers_what_would_it_be\" title=\"If you could give a piece of advice to your peers, what would it be?\">If you could give a piece of advice to your peers, what would it be?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/how-this-call-center-agent-managed-to-finish-her-degree-at-up\/#Sign_up_on_Kalibrr_today_and_find_the_right_job_for_you_You_can_also_subscribe_to_our_weekly_newsletter_and_get_Kalibrr_Career_Advice_straight_from_your_inbox\" title=\"Sign up on Kalibrr today and find the right job for you. You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get Kalibrr Career Advice straight from your inbox!\">Sign up on Kalibrr today and find the right job for you. You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get Kalibrr Career Advice straight from your inbox!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Getting_through_the_obstacles\"><\/span>Getting through the\u00a0obstacles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While some people are fortunate to have an easy life, Karla had it different. She was raised by her single mother and grandparents in Paranaque, and their primary source of income was a\u00a0small stall in the local market. That was where her love for mathematics began. &#8220;I basically grew up there. I took my naps after school inside the stall and I helped out as cashier during the busier times of the year. My mom claims this is how I started liking math from an early age.&#8221; It was going well for them for the most part until supermarkets started rising near the market, and the their business started declining. The situation started getting more challenging\u00a0when she\u00a0stepped into high school because\u00a0aside from the steady decline of the family business, her\u00a0mother got pregnant with her sister, and her grandmother got diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer which eventually took her life 5 months later.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12224\" src=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4755_10201276314146496_7513009977491830666_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4755_10201276314146496_7513009977491830666_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4755_10201276314146496_7513009977491830666_n-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/4755_10201276314146496_7513009977491830666_n-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/4755_10201276314146496_7513009977491830666_n.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a>Despite the struggles, she was lucky enough to finish high school on time because of her full scholarship. Fast forward to college, it was another set of challenges she had to face. &#8220;After high school graduation, I signed a &#8216;study now, pay later&#8217; scholarship under a company that I rendered summer jobs. I was required to attend school during weekdays and work in the company during weekends. After first year though, the company pulled me off\u00a0the scholarship because I was unable\u00a0to meet the time requirements each week. Unfortunately, the sponsor needed me to pay back the cost for my first year&#8217;s education by working full time on a trainee&#8217;s rate.<\/p>\n<p>This was when I had\u00a0to take a leave of absence from UP during the first semester of my second year because it took me 6 months to pay everything back.&#8221;Drastic changes started happening in her life during her third year in college: she was living away from her family so she could be closer to school, and her mother&#8217;s small business had to close down again because of some circumstances that transpired. Because of this, they\u00a0were again left with the prospect of being separated and solely supported by her aunts. &#8220;This time didn&#8217;t sit well with me because although they were willing, I knew it was going to be doubly hard because they each had their own kids to support and mortgages and bills to pay. This was the time I realized I needed to find a job if I wanted to continue studying.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_ups_downs_and_in_betweens\"><\/span>The ups, downs, and in betweens<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And just when she thought all hope was lost (well, not really), a great opportunity presented itself to her.&#8221;I heard from a friend that Teleperformance Ayala had an account that caters students working part time. This was when UP adjusted the academic calendar from June to August,&#8221; says Karla who grabbed the opportunity in an instant. &#8220;Needless to say, it was physically and mentally draining. I barely got to see my family since I had to sleep all day.&#8221; It wasn&#8217;t\u00a0easy\u00a0juggling between work and school according to Karla. And the Metro Manila commute was one of them. She\u00a0live in Las Pinas, works in Makati and studies in Quezon city. The commute was unbearable and the expenses were difficult.\u00a0\u00a0It got even harder when she entered the last two years of her course because\u00a0it was purely civil engineering major subjects they had to go through.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12226\" src=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13335971_1357258160956154_4593540925793180159_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13335971_1357258160956154_4593540925793180159_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13335971_1357258160956154_4593540925793180159_n-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13335971_1357258160956154_4593540925793180159_n-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13335971_1357258160956154_4593540925793180159_n.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a>&#8220;It was hard to adjust since my schedule wasn&#8217;t fixed. Sometimes I work in the morning and attend class in the afternoon, and sometimes I have class in the morning and work in the afternoon until evening.&#8221; But despite having to balance between\u00a0submitting projects, problem sets, and sit down for exams while\u00a0maintaining a high performance at work balancing her AHT (average handling time), sales conversion, schedule adherence, and call quality to qualify for the monthly performance incentives, she never thought of calling it quits even though she was having a hard time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To be honest, I don&#8217;t think I ever wanted to give up. There was too much hope and determination running through me that even though I knew I was going to have a tough time, I was never going to stop until I finish what I started,&#8221; explained Karla.\u00a0 There were times when Karla would envy her friends who only need to worry about school, while she had to think\u00a0about budgeting pay checks, and making reports. But every time this happens, she thinks of what her mother always tells her. &#8220;She tells me that we can make it through one day at a time, and when we eventually make it to the end, the victory will be so much sweeter.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_strength_and_backbone_of_success\"><\/span>The\u00a0strength and\u00a0backbone of success<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When asked where she gets her strength to pull through, Karla made no hesitation. &#8220;My mother and my sister were my main sources of strength. I admire my mother\u00a0her courage in facing everyday challenges, her positive outlook in seeing every situation, her perseverance in being both mother and father for my sister and I, her tenacity in voicing out her opinion when she knows there&#8217;s something not right, her ease in forgiving people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12228\" src=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13438871_10209287408879427_4907705245896952316_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13438871_10209287408879427_4907705245896952316_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13438871_10209287408879427_4907705245896952316_n-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13438871_10209287408879427_4907705245896952316_n-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13438871_10209287408879427_4907705245896952316_n.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a>Her colleagues from work and classmates didn&#8217;t lack in the support department as well. Karla describes them as stress relievers and great\u00a0encouragers. They would easily exchange life stories and\u00a0boost\u00a0each other whenever they don&#8217;t meet their targets. Her classmates, she explains, are amazing. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have survived countless requirements without their help. Whenever I missed a class due to illness, they would step up and offer to help me catch up.&#8221; Of course, the heart isn&#8217;t an exception. Karla describes the support from her boyfriend as indescribable. &#8220;I shared all the ups, downs, victories, failures, frustrations, doubts and most importantly, food trips. He was there all throughout and I couldn&#8217;t be more thankful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12230\" src=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13516345_10209286222289763_2154306455345906479_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13516345_10209286222289763_2154306455345906479_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13516345_10209286222289763_2154306455345906479_n-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/13516345_10209286222289763_2154306455345906479_n-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"If_you_could_give_a_piece_of_advice_to_your_peers_what_would_it_be\"><\/span>If you could give a piece of advice to your peers, what would it be?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;To all the undergraduates out there, especially those who have encountered failures, I would just like to say kudos to you. Through your failures, you&#8217;ll learn more than you can ever learn from your successes. Through your failures, you&#8217;ll discover the strength and resilience that you possess. Through your failures, you&#8217;ll stand up once again and finish what you&#8217;ve started and in the end, the victory will be so much sweeter. To my fellow call center agents who feel like it&#8217;s never the right time to fulfill their dreams, I would just like to say that the best time to start working on your dreams is NOW. You&#8217;ll always feel that you&#8217;re not ready but when you&#8217;re already on that path, you&#8217;ll do everything for that dream to come true.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sign_up_on_Kalibrr_today_and_find_the_right_job_for_you_You_can_also_subscribe_to_our_weekly_newsletter_and_get_Kalibrr_Career_Advice_straight_from_your_inbox\"><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalibrr.com\/?utm_source=b2c-blog&amp;utm_medium=in-text&amp;utm_content=signup-button-062716&amp;utm_campaign=blog-cta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>Sign up on Kalibrr<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> today and find the right job for you. You can also <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/confirmsubscription.com\/h\/i\/77238488FF110D6D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>subscribe<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> to our weekly newsletter and get Kalibrr Career Advice straight from your inbox!<\/i><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.\u00a0But for Karla Gonzales,\u00a0she didn&#8217;t have a lot of\u00a0lemons to begin with, and didn&#8217;t\u00a0exactly have the smoothest ride to reach where she is right\u00a0now. Despite the odds, this hard-working lady\u00a0overcame and surpassed the difficulties\u00a0with flying &#8216;maroon&#8217; colors. Karla juggled\u00a0between being an operations executive in a call [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":12232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neo-blog.kalibrr.com\/blog\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}