Wednesday, March 21, 2007

This I Believe: My Family and My Future

This week’s post focuses on my personal belief in family and my future. Living in the United States has been a great privilege for me and has taught me to always count my blessings because many people in this world are not as lucky as I am. As a Filipina, I grow up in an environment where family would always come first. As a child, I was the most outspoken, and still am, and always had an idea of where I wanted to end up in life. After graduating from high school it became clear to me precisely what I wanted to do with my post secondary education and my future. My goal was to transfer to The University of Southern California and receive a B.A. in Public Relations. Several, if not majority of my family have decided to have a career in nursing or accounting. Yes, at times, I was pushed by some of my family to take that route but, I knew I didn’t have the heart for it.

Upon graduating from SC, I plan on pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, hopefully on that allows me to travel the world. I aim to make enough money to where I can spend it comfortably and to not have to worry about living pay check to pay check. After being financially stable, I would like to start a charity foundation that would aid children and families with food, clothing and housing in the Philippines. I still have several family members on my mother’s side who still live there. Every time I visit, even though it may be for only a short period of time, I leave with a greater sense of humility. Many of them struggle to provide for their own families and work so hard for barely enough money to budget within a week. It saddens me deeply to witness that some of my own family members (pictured right) currently live this way. They are the most loving, caring and hard working people I know. Sometimes I wonder how my life would be if I were to never live in the states. My ultimate goal in life is to make enough money to be able to send my family in the Philippines to America. I sincerely want a better life for them because out of all the people I know, they deserve it the most. They are the reason why I have had a clear mind and never steered away from finishing school. I know how privileged I am to be able to go so far with my education. I believe that with my dedication and hard work, all my goals will be accomplished. I believe in having a great passion to pursue dreams with the help of family faith and support.

The two people, who I call my foundation and inspiration for achieving my dreams, are my mother, Gina (right) and my grandmother, Fe (left). I had about six years living alone with my mother after my parents divorced and before she remarried. During that time in my life, she really instilled a lot of my views about life, education and my future. She really pushed me to believe that I did not need to really on anyone, especially a man, to provide for me. It was clear to me that this was true since she was able to take care of me on her own and not live in as state of destitute. My independence and ambitious nature derives from her. She has always opened my eyes into looking at the bigger picture and no matter how much of a tough time I am going through, she reminds me to feel lucky and blessed that I come from such an amazing family. “Don’t dwell on something minute, Can. Look at what you already have in your life and appreciate it for what it is,” she says. Hearing those words makes me want to work that much harder to be able to retire my mom and dad and to share my wealth with my family. My grandmother, or “Nanay”, as I like to call her has been my personal cheer leader from the day I was born. She sees that I have this drive to really accomplish what I put my mind to. She has the most optimistic outlook on my future and can not wait for me to finish college and see me in action. “I know you can do it Candice,” she says. I believe that Nanay is the person in my life who truly cherishes family and my future. Her heart is big enough to care for her children and grandchildren in the states as well those in the Philippines. Her human nature to love everyone has given me the grace to love her and my entire family unconditionally. Nanay believes in me, therefore I am her shining star. I try to live everyday to the fullest to get closer to my goals. Although at times school can be daunting, I think about the bigger picture and the reason how I got to where I am today. I reflect on where I want to be and the belief in myself emerges from within me. I believe my family and future are the reason to live to work.

Monday, March 5, 2007

The Life of a Celebrity Personal Assistant: Run now or forever hold your grief

It is 2:30 am and all of sudden you hear, “Can you pick up my dry cleaning, has Pinky been washed yet, can you schedule my colonics appointment, and is Starbuck still open by the way, I need my non-fat latte”? These types of questions are not out of the norm for a celebrity personal assistant to hear (or CPA’s as I would like to call them). Besides, giving Pinky her daily bath doesn’t seem so bad when knowing that night you will have to attend a red carpet event alongside Celebrity X and Pinky right? Britney Spear’s former personal assistant, Felicia Culotta, (picture left) who has worked for Spears for 9 and half years, recently spoke out about her experiences working with her. Culotta wrote a letter to kid Ruben, creator of the World of Britney fan site that expressed her feelings about Britney’s downward spiral. In it, she focused on how saddened she was to see Britney’s life unfold and how, at this point, feels helpless. I guess after years of watching Britney’s crazy antics (ie. flashings, puking in public and baby dropping) it was about time to say something.

As a celebrity personal assistant, many of them are able to attend movie premieres, benefits, parties and plenty more. In some cases the benefits involve relationships and assistants become romantically involved with their boss or boss’ friend. Jessica Simpson’s former personal assistant and best friend, Cacee Cobb was able to steal actor Donald Faison's heart, (pictured right). Yes, the perks of being a celebrity personal assistant sounds amazing, but is it really worth being pushed around or at least having a cell phone thrown at you?

Amanda Brack was Naomi Campbell’s personal assistant for a couple years, but became fed up with Naomi’s anger problems. According to an article in the New York Post, Brack claimed that Campbell (pictured right) “smacked her, spat in her face, whacked her with a BlackBerry, ripped the clothes off her back, took her cash and stranded her in Morocco.” Campbell, 36 denied the accusations. “I have a deep sense of shame for the things I’ve done. I felt very remorseful for having thrown the phone at someone that didn’t deserve it,” said Campbell. Campbell later pled guilty to misdemeanor charges. It may seem tempting to work for a supermodel, especially Naomi Campbell…NOT! Most supermodels get to travel the world, are invited to the best parties and receive the trendiest clothes. I guess it takes a cell phone beating to realize that the job isn’t so great.

What is the fascination with working for a celebrity anyway? Is it an easy way to climb up the Hollywood social latter? Or is it a job people may find effortless to tackle? It doesn’t take a certain type of degree to become a celebrity personal assistant which makes the job a little less competitive. The job does, however require excellent persuasive communication skills and a can-do attitude. According to an article from Jobseekers Advice, CPA’s “need strong skills of persuasion to be able to work the ‘small circles’ stars seem to require on a daily basis. A lot of persuasive communication is psychological, and involves understanding the needs, motivation and drives of others in order to convince them that whatever you’re suggesting is in their best interest.” Being a CPA doesn’t seem to be too bad; there are worse jobs out there. It seems like people who are comfortable being submissive and/or passive are more equipped to do these jobs. I, on the other hand, would prefer hiring my own assistants and sharing my Starbucks with them.