PROFESSOR MOHAWK: THE INTRODUCTION

I know, I'm a Certified Public Accountant. And the first words that come to your mind when you hear about my profession may include: Math, Numbers, Nerds, Worksheets, Financial Statements, Calculators, No Night-outs, No Relationship, Makati, Necktie, Long Hours, Overworked, Underpaid.

But one word that you may not relate with that profession is this: MOHAWK. However, by some strange circumstance, I am an accountant with a Mohawk. But the Mohawk is not a random rebellion just to look cool or to demand public attention - these are not my hairstyle's intentions. My Mohawk has a story, a deeper purpose it holds.

"Answering The Call", a feature story I wrote for The LaSallian for its August 2011 issue, explains the story behind my mohawk.

Read on.

25 CENTS WORTH: ANSWERING THE CALL  

“I always knew you would take up communications one day. I was surprised when you became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).”  

                                                                                                      

My high school professor said this to me when I visited my alma mater for our grand reunion last year.                                                                                                                                                 

In high school, I was active both in academics and in extra-curricular activities. I was the all-around guy, competing in various contests – from extemporaneous speeches to ethnic dances, and regional math challenges to national press conferences. But I was better known for my affinity towards Mathematics, since I had the patience to communicate with numbers and experiment with formulas.

 Pursuing a career as an accountant was the right dream to pursue; enrolling as an Accountancy major was the logical choice for my undergraduate degree.

Being a freshman in Silliman University back in 2004 was my first step in realizing my aspiration to become a CPA.  Learning about the principles of debits and credits became a daily encounter. My accountancy professors narrated the numerous opportunities for an accountant, which further validated my choice.

Somebody called. I did not answer. I was busy computing for the assignment.              

                    

When my grandfather, or Tatay as I fondly called him, died the following year, I promised that I would dedicate my Accountancy diploma in his memory. Little did I know that this would be my strength in finishing my degree.

My struggle began a semester after my grandfather’s death. My interests moved from structured standards and computations to unknown creative territories – the advertising industry in particular. I wanted to shift to a communications degree because of my interest in the creative field. But I was half way through my Accountancy degree. I wanted to shift courses, but then I remembered my promise.

That promise was my beacon in finding the light in Accountancy. I wrote for The Weekly Sillimanian as a Features Writer as a means to express my growing creative pursuit. I found contentment knowing that I could interact with letters, even while solving numerical problems.                    

                                                           

In March 2008, I handed Tatay my diploma with an added bonus. I graduated Cum Laude in an Accountancy batch of only 24 students. Although he was no longer physically present, he gave me the inspiration to finish the four-year race.

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

After graduation, our batch went to Manila for a five-month preparatory review for our board exams.  The review served as our training ground before we went to the actual battle, the four-day CPA licensure board examination. I focused all of my faith and effort towards attaining the coveted license.       

                                                                                                              

Somebody called again. I did not answer. I was too busy studying Negotiable Instruments Law.   

                            

I successfully obtained my license on October 2008, adding a comma and three capital letters into my surname – Gonzales, CPA. By November 2008, I started working as an associate in a renowned audit firm.    

                                                                                                             

The first few months of work allowed me to inhale the corporate world into my system. Stories once narrated in class became actual experiences. Theories of control tests and substantive procedures were placed in real-life scenarios. I was exposed to various industries and interacted with an array of clients. More importantly, I was surrounded with those who bore the same extensions to their last names.    

                                                                                                                    

In my mind, I was convinced that my marriage to numbers would be worthwhile and that aspiring for a successful career in audit will be a viable choice.                          

                                          

That somebody called again. I did not answer. I was doing an inventory count in Negros.      

                                      

As work progressed, my evenings and weekends bore additional workloads. Tasks were not feasibly accomplished within the regular work period; overtime work was necessary. And in between financial statement drafts and balance sheet plots, my idealism was replaced with the realities of my tenure. 

                                                                                                                                 

The excess hours were not a problem. The long study hours during my undergrad trained me to work like an owl. But after a year of working in the company, desolation came when I realized that I was not growing in the firm. Work became routinary; I was not learning anything new. At the same time, my thirst for creative knowledge resurfaced.                                                                                                                                                                      

I was unfulfilled and I began questioning my worth as an auditor and, more so, as a person. I saw the grey walls of my office. The people around me spoke a different language and they did not understand my perspective. To them, the physical world was only construed to their visual meaning – a book was just a book; the rain, a climate condition. I saw things differently. A book in the corner is a silent witness to the secrets around him; the rain, a melodramatic pattern of outpour and wrath, defining the scenes of the characters she plays with. I felt like an alien in their numeric universe. I felt alone.        

                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Self-fulfilment waited somewhere outside the office. The stolen minutes I dedicated in writing for my weblog, understanding photography, and learning about the advertising industry defined my sanctuary. In that haven, I found consolation and purpose, two inexistent nouns during my hours of toil.    

                             

I was at my crossroad, stuck in the middle of two choices – to risk pursuing a career as a creative or to continue my engagement with audit.                                                                      

                                                        

I sought help from Dennis Temporal, a spiritual advisor and former Jesuit seminarian whom I met after attending his Crossroads Retreat on Black Saturday of 2009. At first, “Brother Dot” was anxious on my intentions to shift careers, citing that maybe I was just burdened with my work. He presented to me an invisible beef steak and detailed that “the steak is advertising, a new meal served for you. In time, we [you] will know if you are meant to eat the beef steak.”                     

While I sought his advice for over a year, I became cautious of the signs leading towards what would be my decision. By then, my understanding of the advertising industry grew as I read marketing-related materials, collected advertisements, and appreciated inventive campaigns. Copywriter, ad agency, Cannes Festival became words synonymous with purpose-driven ambition.                             

                   

I have now fallen in love with advertising. The Adland is the ideal planet for me. It is an industry that understands my language, a place where I belong.                              

                                                      

That Somebody called again. This time, I answered Him. It was God‘s calling after all.

Finally, last October 2010, I bid adieu to audit and resigned. With the advice of Brother Dot and the subsequent approval of my parents, I enrolled and was admitted in DLSU’s Master of Marketing Communications program, a shift to a communications degree six years in the making.                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Following my resignation, I changed my haircut from my formal Rizal cut to a fearless Mohawk. The radical hairstyle symbolized the expression of my freedom. The change made me feel like opening pathways to endless possibilities, new frontiers to be faced with all passion and faith.                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

My struggles played an invaluable contribution towards my desire to achieve the dreams long overdue. Without them, I would not have had the strength to pursue this journey less travelled by accountants.     

                                                                     

            Somebody calls me today. I always answer Him. I am now a better self.     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

            Today, I am a living proof of my high school professor’s prediction – a communications student bound to savour the calling of an advertising beef steak.  Today, I am taking my infant steps towards achieving my destiny, the road He painted leading me towards my personal calling and deepest consolation. This education is now my ticket, a gateway to being both a Certified Public Accountant and an aspiring Philippine creative.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

            I have answered the call. I am now a better self.