Head Over Feet

Project Lead

Dei went straight to their office after her Clinpsy class to drop all her things before heading to a late lunch.

"Uy Maine!"

She turns around and sees Julienne, her coworker.

"Oh Hi Jules!" they buss their cheeks.

"May class ka ba sa hapon?"

"Yeah, I'll just have a quick bite and I'm off to my next class."

"Oh. Well sige next time na lang kita yayain mag coffee."

"Ah, sure. Sige." Jules heads out of the office, leaving Dei by her table.

"Miss Mendoza, magandang tanghali po. Sir Danny wants to see you in his office."

Ate Nilda, the department secretary says.

"Ay, Ate Nilda. Bakit daw?" Dei whispers to her.

"Di ko alam Ma'am. Pero kanina kausap nya rin yung si Ms. Jules."

Ate Nilda looks around to check if anybody else was there in the department.

"Baka tungkol sa promotion nyo..."Dei nods quietly, and proceeds to Dr. Danny Valenza's office.

The door was open, Dei peeks and knocks on the side.

"Sir? Good afternoon, you wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes Miss Mendoza, yes. Close the door behind you and sit down please."

Dr. Valenza gestures to the seat in front of him.

"How far along are you to finishing your PhD?"

"2 more terms Sir, give or take. I still need to finish my Dissertation and I am still taking a few majors."

"Okay. DLSU Manila is planning a CSR project, aims to give help to different communities, providing food, shelter, education, and psychological assistance.

Our department needs representatives for the psych part."

"I need a project lead for this. You think you can handle it?"

"Oh wow. Sir. Uhm. Can I have the timeline for this, and the outline of the project? To what extent is our involvement?"

"Here... Our department will provide debriefing and psychological assessment for those who experienced abuse, neglect, abandonment. And conduct therapy if needed. The centers will create a therapy room for adults and children."

Dei nods as he explains.

"You may create your own team, say 3 people from the department. I suggest you take Jules, I have spoken to her earlier about this."

Dei reads the documents she was given, and imagines all the work she needs to do.

"We start in 2 weeks. You need to meet with your team, and you also need to coordinate with the other departments to know the timelines."

"So. Are you in?"

"Yes sir." Dei smiles

"Great! So I'll inform Bro. Armin that the Psych department is good to go. I expect a list of names of your team and their resumes on my table tomorrow morning. Thank you Miss Mendoza."

"This will look great in your resume Maine. Added points to you as running candidate for the next Department Chair."

Mr. Valenza smiles warmly at her, with eyes of admiration and pride.

"Naku naman Sir." Dei shyly replies.

"I have always believed in you, even when you were still my student in Masters. Tuloy mo lang yan Maine, you have my support."

"Thank you Sir Danny. If not for you, I wouldn't have been a Psych prof too."

Dei slowly stands up, and shakes Dr. Valenza's hand.

"Oh and by the way, you may bring 1 or 2 of your best students to assist, so they can learn from the experience."

"Noted Sir. Salamat ulit."