Birthday Entry VIII: Joy Tingson

Date Submitted: June 13, 2009

What can I say about James? Well, first off, my initial impression about this person was smart and very serious. And when I had my first encounter with him, true enough, he is but not with the very serious part. He is one of the very rare person that you would be privileged of meeting. Why did I say privilege?

Because he is like a flu shot that every person is dying to get and once it's already in their system, you'll have the peace of mind in not getting the strain at least for the time period. So you have to get it again and again at least every year if you're one of the hard core paranoid like me. I'm just kidding! Hehe..

But seriously, it was interesting when I first talked to James and I don't know if I'll ever get to know this person if I was not promoted. Let me reflect back several months ago, I was on the 4th floor taking in calls, then Sherrie came by to talk to her friend who happened to be my teammate. They were talking about being in a creative schedule and that they still have 2 slots in their team.

Being nearby and overhearing the conversation, I told Sherrie that I want to get the other slot plus her friend. After weeks of deciding on who will be included in what team, I found out that I'll be staying in my old team and 2 of my other teammates transferred to James'. Then 3 months ago, our leader, with James in the room, talked to me if I want to be under his team instead of the new team.

Being in a position that you don't have control of, or not having the option to choose, I said yes. And that's the beginning of everything, except that of course (if you know what i'm saying). I don't want to sound descending, so I'd just say James is everything of a friend, leader, mentor that you can ask for. Happy Birthday to you! Hope you'll have a blast. Looking forward to learning a lot more from you (even kalokohan.. hehe).