Featured LPU Davao Employee of the Month: Ms. Kyndra B. Aradillos
“Rest if you must, but don’t you quit”. -John Greenleaf Whittier
Ms. Kyndra B. Aradillos is the second and the youngest child of Mr. Percenito and Mrs. Marilyn Bustamante. She was born in Davao City and raised in Peñaplata, Island Garden City of Samal. She is married to Aimer Butz N. Aradillos, and they are currently residing at Cabantian, Davao City.
Ms. Kyndra has always been active in extracurricular activities since she was still in elementary up until her college days. She competed in various competitions during the Communication Arts Festival (Spelling Bee and ICT PowerPoint Presentation Competition), NAMCYA Competition, Indak-Indak sa Dalan during the Kadayawan Festival, Division and Regional School’s Press Conference, Science and Math Competition (Quiz Bee and Science Investigatory Project Presentation), and Division and Regional STEP Competition (ICT PowerPoint Presentation Competition). Aside from the competitions she had participated in, she was also an active officer of the School’s Supreme Student Government for three years and became the President of the SSG when she reached her fourth year in high school. In addition, she was also the Editor in Chief of the School’s Publication (Filipino) for two years.
Ms. Kyndra may seem like a busy student who constantly participated in various competitions, but she also manages to excel academically. From elementary up to high school, she’s always part of the Top 5 students in her class. As for her, “I may not be the smartest student out there, but I am very diligent with my studies. I know that if I put my 100% in everything that I will do, it will pay off someday.”
In her last year in high school, Ms. Kyndra was still unsure as to what degree she would be taking, but after she got her results from NCAE, she found out that she is more inclined into communication-related professions that is why when UP Mindanao came to their school, she then grabbed the opportunity and took the entrance examination for the course, BA in Communication Arts, and luckily she passed. However, when she and her mother visited the campus, she felt like it’s not for her. So, she decided to take an entrance examination at the University of Southeastern Philippines, where her older sister, Glayra is studying. After passing the entrance examination, she also found out that she would not take the English Bridge Program since her score is a bit high for someone to take the EBP. So, she thought at that time that it’s good as she didn’t need to take the EBP during summer, but, later, it turned out to be a disadvantage for her since, during the first day of classes, her classmates seemed to know each other well, and it was a bit of a challenge for her to reach out to her classmates since she’s a bit introverted at that time. But, thanks to one of her classmates who approached her at that time, she found the people who became her greatest friends even up to now.
Her college life wasn’t really smooth sailing as she would compare it to her high school life, but there were a lot of life lessons that she could get from those experiences that she had. As she shared, “There were a lot of times that you would think of giving up, you would regret why have you chosen this course, you are torn between sleeping or studying overnight, unwinding or studying for the examinations, or even thinking of skipping the class for you are afraid of your teacher. But, I realized that those sleepless nights, stress, anxieties, and those bucket of tears weren’t incomparable to the happiness that I felt whenever my classmates and I would share our sentiments about our subjects, our teachers, our struggles, our “lutang” moments, our peals of laughter, bondings and most of all, sharing the same passion and dream that help us from surpassing all those trials and pursue what we want to do with our lives.”
After she graduated from college, she was trained for the Job Enabling English Proficiency Project under the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (a project of USAID) in one of the known maritime schools in Mindanao. Being one of the three fresh graduates at that time, she tried her best to impress the Australian trainer and was commended during her presentation. Eventually, she was then hired after a month in that institution. At that time as well, she enrolled for her Masters of English in Applied Linguistics at USEP, and after finishing her Masters in 2015, she then enrolled to earn teaching units at Saint John Paul II College of Davao, took the licensure examination in 2016, and luckily passed it. She is currently enrolled for her Dissertation 1 subject for her Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Major in Applied Linguistics at the University of Immaculate Conception.
Her working life was the part of her life where she realized that the real battle begins when you are already in the world of work. Overcoming challenges while staying professional wasn’t easy as it is, but there are a lot of things that she learned: (1) there are people who would try to pull you down but hold on tight, you will only lose the battle if you would give in to these kinds of people; (2) there are times when people do not appreciate everything that you do even if you already gave your best. You’ll reach the point that you might lose the passion, but always remember the first time that you chose this path, find a way to rekindle that passion of yours; (3) there are a lot of times that you may encounter different kinds of personalities who would either complement or contradict yours, learn to adjust but also do not be afraid to speak up, too; (4) when all else fails or if ever there is an opportunity for personal/professional growth, it is never wrong to go out of your comfort zone, take a considerable risk and leave the place whom you called your home for years. Sometimes, you have to leave for you to know if you deserve a new home or not.
Despite the challenges that she had encountered for 8 years in her previous institution, she would always be thankful for all her experiences because as she shared, she’ll not become as energetic, as passionate, and as patient as she is right now. She also said that she was happily working there because her circle of friends helped her grow as a professional, her students really appreciated her efforts and she knows to herself that she loves her job, and teaching is her passion.
“If I will be asked now if I found my home? My answer would be a big yes. I may have encountered some challenges during my almost three years in my new home, but so far, it’s manageable. But if in the future I may encounter things that are going to be beyond my control, I would always ask myself, why am I here again? It is because this is what I love to do. This is what makes me happy.”
When asked about what’s her advice to her students, she said, “Since the pandemic started, I know my students are really struggling right now, physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically. We, too, teachers are struggling, but we are trying our best not to show it to them because if we do, then the more they would feel hopeless in these challenging times.”
She continued, “This pandemic may have also added more layer of stress to your college life, and you feel like your future is shrouded in uncertainty, and it is difficult to find the spark for you to be inspired to move forward but always remember these: First, always find a sense of purpose in everything that happens in the best times and the worst times in our lives. This pandemic is just one of the rough roads you’ll need to pass through towards the entry point to the real world. Second, this is the best time for you to connect with people even more. Find time to mingle with people and learn to share your sentiments for this is what we lack in this virtual world that we live in right now. Lastly, remember this one line from a famous poem that says, “Rest if you must, but don’t you quit”. There is nothing wrong with taking a break or pausing for a while, but don’t take too
long though, for the longer you take a break, the more you’ll do things that would make you lose your way. Never give up, nor quit. Always remember that you can do it if you believe in yourself.”