With frustration bubbling so close to the surface recently, I found myself asking whether I liked my job.  The answer?  Time to get philosophical.  During Bev Almazan's talk last Sunday, she quoted Aristotle as saying, "We are what we habitually do." This is consistent with something I teach my students in Learning Theory--that attitude follows behavior and cognition.  If we understand something and keep doing it, our feelings towards it are positive.  Another friend of mine said he must like admin work because he keeps accepting it.  So, do I like my job?  Following the above logic, the answer must be yes.

I must qualify the yes, though.  I love being part of the Ateneo.  I share its values and its vision.  I have a deep respect for its leadership.  I also love my field of specialization and I am devoted to DISCS. DISCS is capable of great things, and I want to continue to help it achieve those great things.  If I wear the hat of chair, I do so not because I covet the authority or have political ambitions.  I wear it because that's what the institution needs me to do at this time.  Come 2008, I will gladly pass the torch.

The left edge of my glass board has a list of months representing the time I have left in my term as chair. As each one passes, I rub it out from the board.  While the days go by quickly enough--sometimes too quickly--the months take forever.  I am just finishing the first of my three-year appointment.  There are many months to go.