What do you really do at CLS?
I attend to tenant requests for UCSF housing primarily at Mount Zion. I’ll help at Parnassus or Mission Bay sometimes if they are busy, too. Tenant requests include plumbing, electrical, painting - all the small stuff. The tenants make a work order on the portal. Once I receive it on my end, then I’m going to attend to it.
How long have you worked at UCSF?
I’ve worked here for three years.
What is your favorite part of the job?
When you complete the job, you can see the smile on your tenant’s face and know they’re satisfied with your work. Sometimes they will give you good reviews - it’s a feather in my cap.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out at UCSF?
Be honest. Be true to yourself. Love your job. Be a professional – if you’re professional, you respect others, you have etiquette, you always stay on the ground. For younger people who work here, I advise them to love their job. There will be some bad times, but there will be more good days rather than bad days.
What did you do before coming to UCSF or CLS?
I was a chief engineer at the Holiday Inn Express – I led a team responsible for the safety and maintenance of the building. It’s much crazier in the hospitality industry because you never know who’s going to check in. Some guests in the hotels are wild, you know. Luckily, at UCSF, I don’t experience that since people here are professional.
Before that, I worked as a safety engineer in Taiwan at a petrol chemical firm. I am a licensed civil engineer in the Philippines and have a master’s degree in business management.
Where'd you grow up?
I grew up in Manilla, Philippines. An engineering company I worked for petitioned me to come to the United States. In the Philippines when you say you’re going to America, you seek a greener pasture. Everybody loves America. That’s why I took a risk. I am the first person in my family to come here.
Moving here was a difficult journey as I was only by myself. It’s only my skills that kept me alive. I moved at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, so immigration got stricter. I started working here at the engineering company, and after that, when the economy went down and Silicon Valley was rising, I established my own networking business. I maintained networking and synchronized software in dental clinics for five years. I eventually entered my position here at UCSF. I like UCSF and I’m very proud to be a part of it.
What motivated you in your journey?
My faith is a big motivator, without that maybe I’d be a failure. As you go on with your journey you will meet different people, true people. Sometimes they’re just only using you, so you need to be tough, and you need to know who your true friends are. But with my faith, I can always find hope and guidance.
What do you do for yourself when you're not working?
My wife and I just bought a home, and we are trying to do a lot of home improvement. Painting, flooring, landscaping - there’s no end to projects.
Anything else you'd like your colleagues to know about you?
Not about myself. But there is a quote I’m going to give them. “Make mistakes. Learn from it, but don’t dwell on it.” – I just read it and it’s my favorite.
