Saint Mary’s University

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

EVANGELYN CASTILLO GALERA October 22, 2023

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering CFE106a (4189)

Journal #1 (Sandiwa): “I come to serve, and not to be served!”

Service is a humble Christian act. Community service deepens your relationship with God
and with your fellow brothers and sisters. It's an occasion to spread Christ’s teachings, to be
a follower of Christ, and to make yourself available to serve others. To help you realize this,
be guided by the following questions:

1. Which kind of leader, in the Gospel story above, do you resonate yourself with? Why?
2. When can you say that that you are ready to carry out greater responsibilities?
Identify 1 character trait of a servant leader worthy of emulation that you want to
apply and discuss how do you show this trait your daily endeavors as would be
Engineers? Cite a concrete situation to illustrate your point

To be honest, I wasn’t that great of a leader myself. I acknowledge that I sometimes

wallow in the benefits of being a leader and I like the authority that I hold. Nevertheless,
what one thing that I can be proud of myself is that I am a very empathetic leader. I never
was a leader who puts shame to my members and as long as I can endure the situation, I will
never put pressure on my groupmates. Moreover, I do not treat them as servants rather, I
act more of a servant than them by filling in their deficiencies during group projects and
activities. I admit that it is tiring but what else can I do? I am deemed to the position of
leading. Leading does not only require bossing around but also requires an ample amount of
patience and compassion as serving others as a leader can put you in complicated situations.
This is the reason why I always want to work alone because directing people who only wants
to believe their opinions is truthfully difficult. Even so, the situation called for me to lead and
all I can do is bring out the best of my leadership skills.
In my chosen field which is Civil Engineering, it is hard to lead older and more
experienced workers when you are a fresh graduate because they are more skilled in
practical construction. This is one of the reasons why as early as now, I am already
challenging myself to take responsibility to being a leader. I need the practice so that when I
am subjected to real a real workplace, I will have an idea on how to handle my people and
also, lead them when needed. I know that at the beginning, we all are followers and as we
grow, we become wiser which makes us suitable for giving advices and soon to lead.
One trait of a servant leader that I want to imitate is the one who leads to serve without
having any greed of power and fame. One who works in silence and does not boast his/her
 Saint Mary’s University
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

achievements and most especially one who does not trample on the rights of his/her
followers. For me, this trait shows the most humane way of leading. I want to be a leader
who serves her fellowmen with honesty and selflessness and I believe that in our future
endeavors as civil engineers, this characteristic will do give me numerous satisfactory
results.
Cite for example, I and the foreman of a certain project that I am assigned into has a
misunderstanding due to variations in the designed plans and as-built plans. In the
construction site, the engineer is most probably the one who rules and must be followed. In
cases of misunderstanding, one should be willing to listen to the other party’s explanation
and as a newbie in the field, I will make way to let the foreman who is more experienced and
skilled than me to explain his side first. After that, I will also give a statement on my side and
we will resolve the misunderstanding in good terms. On the site, there should be no
discrimination on the positions that a person holds. Every worker should have equal rights
and must be respected equally also. Being an engineer doesn’t mean being the boss but
rather, being the one who directs his/ her workers well under different circumstances in the
project site.
 Saint Mary’s University
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Journal #2 (Sampuso): “Take Courage! It is the Lord!”

At times, you are confronted with uncertainties and, therefore, you have fear. It’s the
time for you to realize that God will always be there telling you “take courage.” To help you
find courage as a student, find time to reflect on the following guide questions.
1. Knowing that God is present in your life, how does it make you feel and how do this
presence boosts your courage to face and deal life’s realities? Elaborate

Being a student, especially a college student is truly quite scary. One fail can lead to
numerous negativities like 1 semester or 1 year extension which will then lead to more
expenses in tuition and allowance. This situation can also lead to a person’s depression and
lost of confidence.
Every step I take during college is full of anxiety for one single stomp when I try to
run might ruin the fragile future that I have in front of me. To tell you the truth, ever since I
was in kindergarten, I had always come first in my class until I graduated in elementary. This
had set high expectations to everyone around me, especially my parents. Stepping unto high
school, I was still an achiever but I hadn’t placed first anymore, but my ranking still played in
between the numbers of top 5. I was satisfied even though and so did my parents. Then the
final wave of study which is college came upon me. I thought it would be just a bit more
difficult than my high school studies but then, I was wrong. It was a lot more arduous and
exhausting. Not only did my physical body suffered but also my emotional and mental states
were shattered. Civil engineering wasn’t in any of my choices in college but I went through it
for four years. I don’t know how I survived to be honest.
This last year, hopefully with the mercy of God, is the most painfully hard part of my
journey in college. I had lost hope a couple of times and my burning passion also was almost
put out by the cold shivers upon late night reviews and bone breaking plate making. But
then there’s God. I am now emotional as I write this journal. There is God and though it all,
He has been with me. Encouraging me, motivating me, inspiring me to move a little more
forward. Urging me to risk a step one more time until I am nearing my goal which is to
graduate and make my parents and my future self proud.
Knowing that God is with me all throughout the ups and downs of my life truly did
mend the single thread that I am holding onto. He made it into a strong rope which I can
cling on for the rest of my life. God truly had been carrying me in the times when fear and
disappointment swallowed me into the darkness. God brought light unto my mind and
whispered “You can do it for I am with you, always.” and this kept me going.
 Saint Mary’s University
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

Journal #3 (Sambuhay): “Here I am Lord; Send me!”

As you surrender yourself to God, you are ready to take responsibility. Taking
responsibility is a challenge. You will encounter along the way obstacles, discouragements,
and non-supportive companions or even your family. By reflecting on the following
questions, you will find out how well were you able to sustain your integrity and compassion
in giving service:
1. As a future Marian Engineer, how do you foster or promote integrity and compassion
in your service? Cite concrete situation or scenario explain your point.
2. From the ways of demonstrating integrity in the workplace, which do you is
commonly violated in your field? How is it done? How do you resolve it?

Integrity is a trait important in and outside of the field of engineering. While it can
refer to a state of being sound, or strong, such as in construction, it also refers to being
sound and whole as a person. Integrity has to do with the quality of execution of one’s
moral and ethical codes, and largely to do with their power of leadership. With integrity a
person can ensure their success in both their personal and work lives, and also ensure public
safety in the practice of civil engineering.
As a future Marian civil engineer, I will promote integrity and compassion in my
service by modeling empathy and compassion in my interactions with others. I will listen
attentively, and try to see things from other worker’s perspective. I will be also being willing
to offer help and support when needed. For example, when I am in the site, I will not act too
bossy to the personnel I have around me. I will be willing to lead while serving them at the
same time. Furthermore, when a worker makes a mistake for an instance in the concrete
mix, I will not shame that person rather, I will think of ways to solve the problem like adding
more water or more cement in the mixture to get the right amount. This I think is a way of
showing compassion in workplace.
In our field, superiority and ranking is rampant and I want to eliminate it because
every single member of the project is important. Being an engineer does not mean being
superior in rights compared to the laborers. Everyone should be treated with respect. As a
resolution, I will not make other workers feel inferior to me by making sure to treat them
equally and by not using my title as an engineer to boss them around and belittle them. This
way, respect begets respect and everyone will have a harmonious workplace.
 Saint Mary’s University
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

EVANGELYN CASTILLO GALERA December 17, 2023

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Jesus Is Lord Church
CFE106a (4189)
“CHRISTMAS IN OUR HEARTS”
This Sunday is very special because we celebrated our Christmas program in our
church. I will be lying if I tell you that I did not enjoy the day because I really did. It was filled
with raw laughter and genuine love emanating from all the members of our church.
Before the program proper, we foremostly had our Sunday service with the theme
“CHRISTMAS IN OUR HEARTS” in which our pastor preached that as Christians, Christmas is
an intangible part of us because it integrated in our hearts and minds. Our beloved pastor
also stated that Christmas in our hearts obviously means giving love, nothing more and
nothing less, not only on Christmas day but everyday in our daily life.
In today’s experience, what left me a significant impression is the essence of the
authenticity of happiness in someone. As I grow older, the soul of Christmas seems to go
further from me. Maybe it is an effect of adulting and all, but every December is not
Decembering like any Decembers before it came and I felt less happy as I celebrate more
Christmas ahead of me. However, for the first time in a quite long time, I witnessed true
happiness in simple things from the faces of the old, the young and everyone that belongs
to our church. Maybe I am too much emerged in my studies right now and the days before
that I seldom see the joy a simple game or gathering can bring.
This fleeting experience had taught me to be more linient with myself as there are a
lot of things that are to be thankful and delighted of. Now, I decided to not put too much
pressure on myself and learn to be blissful in experiencing or receiving small things. But then
I remembered that tiny things are very much appreciated but not in grades. I will also give a
gift to myself as a student by giving my best to attain a high if not a passing grade to all my
subjects this semester.
With all my experiences in the church, Christian life is gradually growing in my faith
and devotion as person. Attending church has enabled me to learn how to grow in both my
faith and as a person. And as I have grown older, I have learned that going to church is so
much more. Going to church is going to see love and compassion, going to a comfort place
and going to lead and at the same time to serve.
This daily journals and reflections are no longer something I am obligated to do as
part of my religion but is something I look forward to do every week while being able to
learn more about Jesus, more about my religion, and more about how I can help my
community and grow as a person.