Meeting life’s challenges head-on

WE often hear the idiom, “When opportunity knocks, answer the door,” especially in times when motivation is needed and actions must be taken. To some, opportunity is a person they meet; to others, it is a decisive moment to be dealt with.

In my case, it came in the form of an academic institution.

In July 2015, a month after graduating from college, I ventured into the corporate world. Initially working for an IT company in Makati, I moved to an insurance firm as a marketing associate the following year.

I suffered from mental burnout. Wanting to quit multiple times, I was afraid of where I will go next and what I will do. Work offered a safe space and yet, I felt empty and uninspired.

“Why don’t you try teaching?” was a message I unexpectedly gravitated to. A former professor-friend told me that De La Salle University’s Department of Marketing and Advertising was looking for part-time professors, and my profile was a match.

But I held me back, thinking I was not good enough to be a teacher.

“But what if I can do it?”

I got accepted as a part-time lecturer handling a Feasibility Studies class. Much like any job, there was an adjustment period. Teaching felt like you have to always be at your best. You could not mess up your words, lest you be judged by your students, maybe even your peers. Sometimes, you even doubted the words you were saying. It was rough, scary, but fun.

Teaching became lighter with the support of fellow faculty members. DLSU has full-time and part-time teachers, all well-versed in various fields of expertise aligned with the courses they teach.

Honestly, I feel like I do not belong due to differences in skills and capabilities, with mine at the lower end. Yet I found myself with more opportunities for growth and development.

I got involved in institution-based projects, at one point becoming research assistant for an academic journal, and also project assistant for a DLSU-based center.

While I was a teacher, I also learned from my students. DLSU students are known not only for high academic performance, but they also apply their learnings outside the classroom. Many have published research papers which they present at local and international conferences. Others join case competitions, winning prestigious awards.

Such accolades are what inspired me to keep improving myself. And then another life-changing opportunity came.

I had the privilege of being a candidate faculty scholar for my doctorate. It came with a full scholarship grant with stipend. From a burned-out employee to a doctorate student about to enter his second year, such a journey would not be possible without DLSU’s continuous support.

At its core, DLSU embodies its Lasallian values of faith, service, and communion through the lives it shapes. By nurturing excellence and empathy, the university continues its mission of teaching minds, touching hearts, and transforming lives.

My journey has had its share of what if’s, but if there’s one thing that DLSU has taught me, it is to find the answers to these questions:

What if I tried teaching? Check.

What if I tried leading three back-to-back national research conferences? Check.

What if I tried putting together one issue of a business and management journal? Check.

So now, whenever a new “what if” moment comes along, it is no longer about fearing it, but more like meeting it head-on.

What if I pursue a doctorate degree? What if I present my first research paper in an international conference? What if I publish my first research paper in a Scopus-indexed journal?

These are no longer what-if challenges — but a matter of when.

John Laurence Robes is a part-time lecturer under the Department of Marketing and Advertising, Ramon V . del Rosario College of Business at De La Salle University (DLSU). He completed his undergraduate degree in Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communications at the University of the Philippines Manila, and his Masters of Marketing Communication from DLSU. Apart from being a part-time lecturer, he is also the Project and Research Assistant for the PHINMA-DLSU Center for Business and Society (PDCBS), and is an i5 Grant Competition for Innovative Pedagogy Awardee by the PRME ASEAN+ Chapter in 2023. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate under the Doctor of Business Administration program at DLSU.