A lesson on handling irate complaints

After only a few days of obtaining my first customer service related job, I received my first irate call from a customer complaining about the service he was receiving from the company. The situation became even more challenging when the customer started to curse and use profane language to express his displeasure. After several minutes I managed to calm the customer down by empathizing with the him and using call-control techniques that I have learned prior to that day. My take-away from that experience is that effective communication skills are a valuable asset to have, especially when dealing with volatile situations like the one that I have just illustrated.

Perspective matters

On March of 2009, I had the opportunity of visiting the country of my birth for the first time after moving to Canada as a child. Personally, I did not know what to expect from the trip and approached it as nothing more than another excursion. After several weeks I found myself involved in missionary-trips to rural areas of the country. The exposure to the sub-par living conditions of the residents of these rural areas taught me a lesson about putting my own situation into perspective and realizing how fortunate I am to be living in a country like Canada.

The importance of getting the facts straight

During the duration of my stay in the Philippines, from my trip in 2009, I had my first experience in being in the middle of a large hostile protest. Tensions were rising between government personnel and local residents and I was advised by a friend who was also at the event to seek refuge in case the situation gets violent. Following my instincts I was to go towards the armed guards who were all equipped with semi-automatic rifles. Ater a couple of hours the protests ended and fortunately no one was hurt. After the event, I spoke with another friend and told him of what I did during the time. He said that my actions were wrong and that I should not have approached the armed guards because I would end up being in he middle of the violence in case the situation does escalate. I learn that it is very important to get the facts straight before taking actions, especially if the situation carries greater risks.

A LESSON ON PERSEVERANCE

On a Friday night in December 2009, I was preparing myself to compete for the annual Provincial ‘Thai-boxing’ tournament held in Burlington, Ontario. Only 12 hours away from the event and still several pounds from my target weight when I unexpectedly

had to accompany a family member to the hospital for an emergency. We ended up staying at the hospital until 4 AM Friday morning. That same Friday - needless to say - I was exhausted from cutting weight and tired from having only three hours of sleep. I fought provincial-level athletes in the tournament and ended up finishing 2nd in the

event, bowing-out from the Final match due to an injury sustained from an earlier bout. Although I was initially unsure of the outcome of my participation because of the prior events leading up to the tournament, I still displayed a good showing in the event and

learned an unforgettable lesson about pushing through difficult circumstances.

Education and learning

In 2011, I started attending a diploma-course in Tyndale University aimed towards professionals and church-leaders. Initially, I felt very uncomfortable with the class because majority of the people that I was sitting with were highly-educated. Some had their doctorates, some were previous University professors, some were seasoned Pastors while I at the time was still working on obtaining my 2-year diploma from Centennial College. After the duration of the course I have gotten use to the class’ dynamics and learned a lesson on the importance of continuously learning and seeking further education for the purpose of self-improvement.