EDEL Action Paper 01-B2 Module 1:

Submitted by: Rodehlia M. Legasto-Macaspac

October 31, 2012

I have come to realize that who I am right now is a product of my family (genes), my formal
education, and my work experiences. But I also believe that everyday gives new mysteries in
life that provides opportunities for every person to evolve into something more beautiful and
pleasing to thy self and to the world.
Family Influence
I am a product of my parents combined genes, conceived out of love and born as their second
offspring, and later on raised as the middle
. Reflecting on my parents traits, I now realized that they were very different from each other,
particularly on the way they think. My mother was very orderly, methodical and wanted
structure in everything she did which was a manifestation of her left limbic preference. My
father is more of the lax, come what may and you may have it your way type of a person.
Their difference was clearly shown in the way they handled time. If indeed there was someone
who invented the motto time is gold, my mother would be it. While for my father, time can
wait. My mother would proudly tell us that she was the alarm clock of the security guard in
their office because she has always been the first one to arrive and would often wake up the
security guard so that the office doors can be opened. I can fondly recall my mother all dressed
up and ready to go to mass during Sundays waiting for my father who was still taking his sweet
time in the bathroom. I also remember my mother doing a lot of other things aside from her full
time office work, such as paper mache making, dressmaking, cross stitching, embroidery, nata de
coco production, and pulvuron making, among others. She also continuously attended seminars,
trainings, workshops, and even pursued and completed her master degree a few years before she
retired from work. She would always say that we should make the most of our time. My mother
was truly a good example of a lifelong learner and someone who possessed intrapersonal
intelligence. My personal desire to continuously enhance my knowledge and skills, and the fact
that I am still pursuing my doctoral graduate studies, would point to the fact that I got my
mothers intrapersonal intelligence. Also, I was very organized and wanted structure during my
younger years. I think I was a hairline away from having an obsessive compulsive behaviour. I
remember regularly fixing and arranging things inside my room and cabinet in a very orderly
manner, and no one can touch anything without my permission. I use to get easily uncomfortable
and irritated if my routine was broken for whatever reason. I likewise felt uneasy and fearsome
going to new places, meeting strangers and doing different things. But having children forced
me to counter my fears, accept the discomfort, extend my patience, and learn not to sweat on the
small stuff. My hypothesis is that motherhood is the cure for OCness.
If my mother seemed to have logical intelligence, it was my father who exhibited the eight
multiple intelligence identified by Dr. Gardner, the naturalist intelligence. He has a penchant for
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EDEL Action Paper 01-B2 Module 1:

Submitted by: Rodehlia M. Legasto-Macaspac
October 31, 2012
farming and love animals. I had very good childhood memories of my numerous summer
vacations with my father in our farm in Bulacan where I got to experience the beauty of nature,
examples of which are picking fruits (tamarind, santol, mango, banana) from the trees,
swimming at the Angat dam, riding the carriage being pulled by the carabao, watching the sunset
with the rice field as background, and running after chickens freely roaming around the garden.
My father also ventured into tilapia production and he would proudly dip into the fishpond and
catch live fish for our meal. Although I was born and raised as a city girl, my future plan always
includes retiring in a little house on the prairie where life can be comfortable, relaxing, and in
communion with nature.
It was also from my father that I heard stories about tikbalang, aswang, nuno sa punso,
dwende, and other stories about the world of the unseen. Whenever my mother would hear
these stories, she would always counter it with scepticism. Personally, I believe that there is
another level of existence outside of ours and some people have the capability to experience this
different dimension. I have strong instinct and gut feel. There were many instances that suddenly
I will tell one of my children not to do something because I have a gut feel that something will
go wrong if they do. I can recall two specific situations when they did the opposite and
something bad really happened. My eldest son, who was in high school then, went to play at the
computer shop inside the mall despite my earlier warning not to go there after school, and he did
not notice when somebody took his backpack because he was so engrossed playing some
computer games. Another instance was when my youngest daughter, also in high school at that
time, went to the mall alone to meet a friend, again despite my earlier warning not to go to the
mall by herself. She recounted to me afterwards that a male stranger started following her when
she did not accommodate his request to get to know her. It was only when she was already with
her friend that the guy stopped following her. Although after several other incidents of teenage
rebellions and my instincts being proven right, I started fearing that it was my intuition that
brings bad luck to my children. Maybe this is the reason why I did not try to enhance my
intuitive ability.
If my mother had intrapersonal intelligence, my father has strong interpersonal intelligence.
New neighbors, friends and acquaintances always commented that my father seemed nice, kind,
and approachable while my mom, they would say, looked snotty. In fact, my father has always
been elected board member of their offices savings and loan association because of his
popularity and friendliness. Although it seemed that way, it was actually my mother more than
my father who was sociable and was able to develop long term friendships over their lifetime.
Peoples first impression of me is similar to how my mother has been perceived during initial
encounters. Analysing why, maybe it is because I am really a very private person who dont
relish small talk, would like to take time in getting to know people before disclosing myself, and

EDEL Action Paper 01-B2 Module 1:

Submitted by: Rodehlia M. Legasto-Macaspac
October 31, 2012
unlikely to ignite friendships on the spur of the moment. These are very typical personality traits
of scorpion ox which is my zodiac birth sign.
I grew up in a fairly stable emotional environment and lived a simple happy life with my family.
If there were any, my parents were very good in shielding us, their children, from any emotional
assault. They were good in containing the effects of any adverse situation and did not allow it to
reach us. I can say that my parents were able to build well the R in the CORE dimensions of
coping with adversity. However, because we were so much protected from experiencing
emotional upheavals, we developed empathy much later in life. It was only after going through
some personal emotional setbacks that I started understanding how other people feel, which led
me to start caring for others.
Education Influence
I am a product of structured and traditional schools where age levels are the basis of groupings
and a passing grade is the ticket to advance to the next level. Ken Robinson, in his book Out of
our Minds likened the education system to a manufacturing process where there are distinct
sequential stages to the process. It is tilted towards the enhancement of the left brain while
neglecting the development of the right brain, with Math and Science as major subjects while the
Arts and Humanities considered minor subjects. This may be the reason why majority of the
educated people are said to be left brainers. Due to my educational upbringing, I have mostly
used my left brain, although occasionally I felt strong nudges from my right brain. And I dont
want to be the man, who in his left brain, had nothing right, and who, in his right brain, has
nothing left. (Dups, 2009) I hope that through this doctoral program, I will be able to use both
brains in a more balanced way. If more educators will balance their four brain preferences, we
might be able to take a holistic view of our education system and be able to find solutions to its
brokenness.
Work Influence
I consider myself to have a well-rounded work experience having been employed in the
government, private corporation, and now in the academe. My people skill was developed and
enhanced in the government where I have to deal with different types of people from the officers
of the organization to the poor beneficiaries of the government projects. Although we were not
rich and we have a relatively simple life, I was never exposed to the hard realities of life like
poverty from food, shelter, and education. My job in the government allowed me to experience
the world of the have nots which started my awareness of the imperfections of the world which I
am part of. Little by little, selfishness is gently being pushed out by selflessness and I began to
realize that I can be a part of the solution. However, my young age then wanted quick fixes
which are difficult to accomplish in the bureaucracy laden project of the government. So I opted
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EDEL Action Paper 01-B2 Module 1:

Submitted by: Rodehlia M. Legasto-Macaspac
October 31, 2012
out and left the government looking for a job that I can see results more quickly, and joined the
private sector.
It is in my stint in the private corporation that I cultivated my business acumen where I have to
prepare and present business plans and proposals to the bosses and to our clients. Unlike in
government, decisions are faster and results are quicker in the private sector. Fruits of your labor
are easily measured through the revenues and profits generated by your projects, and your
fulfilment comes from the bonuses that you receive. It doesnt matter what you did last week to
justify your employment; what have you done to me lately? is the on-going question within a
competitive workplace environment. Capitalism really is natural selection in action. (Burke,
2009). For a while it was exciting and motivating, but then as expectations became higher and
you have to outdo your last performance in terms of revenue generation, it became tiring and
stressful. And when it did, it resulted to burn out, and again I have to leave. I guess I was not yet
mature enough then to handle the pressure.
Becoming a teacher has never been one of my wannabees in life so I believe that I was called to
join this profession. It was in my academic practice that I was able to hone many of my lifelong
learning skills. As I prepare my lesson plans, I have to think logically in order to properly build
up the concepts that need to be explained to the students. In preparing the exams, I have to think
critically so that I can also ask questions that will require the students to think critically as well.
And when I do the lecture, it has to be in the most creative fashion to capture the attention and
interest of my student audience. The academic world enabled me to improve my ability to
communicate verbally through class lectures, consultations with student / parents/ faculty,
discussions during committee meetings, and reporting to supervisors. From the acquiescent
communicator, I moved towards being the affective communicator. However, I am still trying to
become an assertive communicator as I go up the position ladder in the organization. Although I
am reasonably tolerant of people who are blunt, I need to be more tactful and frank.
My decade of experience in the academe is all in the position of leadership. Reflecting on my
leadership traits, the positive ones are: high optimism, willingness to assume decision-making
authority, creative, progressive, assertive, helpful and conscious of others needs. I have to
improve on my analytical skills in making decisions instead of relying mostly on intuition and
high hope. I need to be more persistent and avoid throwing the towel in the face of frustrations.
Also, I need to be more accepting of positions or roles which would require influencing others as
an important aspect.
Through EDEL, I hope that I will be able to acquire the qualities of the leader and be able to
clearly define my leadership role in the school where I currently belong. I hope that under my
leadership, the entrepreneurship program of our school will become its banner program and will

EDEL Action Paper 01-B2 Module 1:

Submitted by: Rodehlia M. Legasto-Macaspac
October 31, 2012
be in the top of mind of every student applicant. I will be preparing a 5 year development plan
for the entrepreneurship program of St. Paul University Quezon City.
On a personal note, I hope that as I journey in this graduate program, it will help me unravel the
mysteries of life, and lead me towards an understanding of the true purpose of every major event
in my life.