“Feet on the ground. Head in the Clouds.” This is not only Alvin Tan’s favorite motto, but these are also the perfect words to describe last year’s MEA president. Having graduated with honors both in high school and college, the current Citibank employee has always made the impossible, possible and the impassable, passable. This cuatro kid may have a long list of achievements, but don’t let that fool you. This Japanese food and culture lover also has his fun and laid-back side. An avid basketball and Adam Sandler fan, Alvin proves that work and fun can belong to one equation. He now shares his secrets, thoughts and experiences with friends, school, ME, MEA, work, and life.

Oh! And did I mention that this always smiling and dimpled Virgo is currently single?!

FUN FACTS

1. Complete Name : Nicholas Alvin Tiu Tan
2. High School : Xavier School
3. Birthday : September 3
4. Favorites…
a. color – Blue or black
b. food – pwedeng cuisine na lang? Japanese
c. tv show or movie – Currently, I’m into crime shows like NCIS and Criminal Minds, or comedy shows like Big Bang Theory and Family Guy. For movies, 50 First dates is my favorite.
d. country – Japan. It’s a fusion of the old and new. Countries with nature and great food are on top of my list
e. hang-out place – mall, in the gym, or in my favorite restaurants
f. sport – basketball of course
g. music – pop/alternative type of songs

5. Current fb relationship status – haha! I think I didn’t put anything there but I’m currently single.

6. Do you have a twitter account? -no, no time to manage it

7. Were you able to watch the finals game against FEU? Are you an avid basketball fan? – yes, but only on television. definitely!

8. What is one embarrassing moment that you would never forget?
haha, do I really need to share this? One time I went to school without sleeping the night before, and fell asleep standing in the middle of the morning prayer. The whole class was already seated down while I remained standing. Good thing the teacher already had her back turned but everyone else knew.

9. What one thing scares an Alvin Tan?
Heights! I generally avoid high places

10. What makes you laugh or happy?
I’m generally a happy person. I love sleeping, eating, and doing nothing! But I also love challenges, being successful in my endeavors, and spending quality time with my friends afterwards to complete a busy day!

11. Who is your celebrity female crush? celebrity male crush? )
Jessica Alba and Natalie Portman are my all-time favorites since they have everything a man can ever look for! I find George Clooney’s appeal and Adam Sandler’s charisma likeable.

12. Describe yourself in three words.
Driven, confident, fun-loving

13. What is your motto in life?
Feet on the ground, head in the clouds. I heard this from a seminar in college before, and I find it very appropriate with what I want to achieve in life, and it just took off from there.

14. What is your deepest darkest secret? What do we not know yet about an Alvin Tan?
I think this is no place to share my deepest darkest secrets, hahaha! But people who I do not frequently meet usually only see my serious side, which I tend to have when I am focused or in the middle of accomplishing a goal. What many don’t know though is I enjoy joking around, sharing stories, and partying after all the hard work is done. My closest friends can attest to that!

SERIOUS QUESTIONS:

1. If I’m not mistaken, you graduated with honors right? Summa or Magna? How does it feel finally graduating from M.E.?

Hahaha! I’m very very happy that I was able to graduate summa, after all the hard work and of course, tremendous amounts of luck. I couldn’t have done this without the support of my friends, who serve as “inspirations” for me to do better when things do not look bright. After graduating from ME, I felt very relieved, knowing that late-night studying is a thing of the past. However, since I’m just new in the corporate world, I feel the challenge to build my career, knowing that there are many out there who are more experienced than me. Truly, the end of college is only the beginning of far more greater things in life.

2. Were you also an honor student back in high school?

Yes, I was an honor graduate, and I think this dedication and constant striving to be better started in my high school days. Although I must note that it takes extra effort to excel in college, as being good in high school does not mean that you are also good in college.

3. How different was college from high school?

Totally different. In terms of academics, you can take things less seriously in high school, and pass the course or even excel in it. In ME though, you feel that you could not slack off, or else you will surely fail. In terms of extra-curricular activities, college offers more opportunities for social development, since high school tends to limit its focus on academics alone. In terms of social life, parties and events are commonplace, making college more interesting and enjoyable for me.

4. What other orgs did you join aside from MEA? How was your experience there similar or different from your experience in MEA?

I joined Kaingin for 2 years before I focused all my efforts on MEA. They are similar in that you can practice your leadership skills in heading events and the like. However, the focus of the 2 orgs is totally different. MEA strives to form corporate leaders and managers of tomorrow, so leadership and social skills are emphasized. Kaingin is a socially-orieted org that tutors public school children every weekends, so social awareness and community development are emphasized. I joined these 2 orgs because I believe that they could help me develop different aspects of my life, contributing to my overall well-being.

5. How were you able to balance your studies with orgs, extracurricular activities and social life? What is your secret? ) What is your study habits like?

There is no secret! Haha! All it really takes is time management, and knowing what to prioritize. Since your time is limited, you have to focus your efforts first on the more important or urgent things, and then do the less important activities afterwards. What is critical is that you should have the will and focus to complete it, because if in the middle of something you get easily distracted, chances are you won’t get good results from your work. Also, if you could delegate work to other people, then it would take the load off your shoulders, giving you more time to do other activities. Usually I do org stuff in school, study during weeknights, and social life is reserved for weekends.

6. What time do you usually go to sleep?

I try to sleep 10-11pm. I love sleeping. I log off my ym and fb whenever things get busier, so that I could sleep on time. However, if deadlines are already fast approaching, and I am already in the “zone”, when my mind is very much focused on work, I can forget about sleep just so that I could finish my research paper. I avoid this practice though, so it usually happens only once or twice a sem.

7. What is the latest time that you went to bed? Why?

As I said before, I could go to school the next day without sleeping, if needed. People who talk to me though would feel I’m a lot grumpier due to the lack of sleep. To recover from this, I would sleep on lunchtime, or during late night classes that end on 7:30pm.

8. Did you ever cram anything for school? Do you think cramming is good?
I think cramming is unavoidable. Students who have never crammed are the ones who do not care about academics. It’s not good in the sense that cramming usually results to mediocre or passable work. However, one thing I enjoy about cramming is the adrenaline rush, as the feeling of meeting a deadline, or submitting a paper right before the last second, makes me feel that I am the most efficient student in the world, hahaha! Looking back, I think due to the heavy workload and the constant presence of extra-curricular activities, I never finished a paper or studied an exam way before the deadline during my third and fourth year.

9. Was there a time that you wanted to quit ME or give up any of your priorities such as MEA? Who is/was your inspiration? Why?

No, it never occurred to me once that I wanted to quit ME, or give up MEA. The company of my friends, plus the constant challenge of balancing my priorities, makes every successful endeavor sweeter and more fulfilling. You know you did great if you pulled off something within a short notice despite having so much else to do, as compared to doing great for something that you are doing for an entire year. The important thing is that you are confident in your decisions and stand by it. There are so many memories and things that I can be proud of with MEA because I was surrounded by great people with great ideas, and this drove me to learn and enjoy every moment I had with them.

10. After graduation, what was the first thing that you did?

The first thing I did was to have a vacation. I went to 4 different beaches that time with different groups of friends.

11. You’re already working right? Where are you working? What do you do?

I work in the Treasury department of Citibank. From the moment I entered there last April, I believed that I made the right decision to start my career with Citi. It has since been a pleasure working in an exciting environment, filled with dynamic people.

12. Why did you choose to work right after graduation? Do you have plans taking up a Masters Degree?

I took a vacation for 1 month first before I entered work. Since I have already accepted my job offer before graduation, I see no reason for me to delay my eventual incorporation with Citi. Right now, I enjoy working and have no plans to take a Masters Degree.

13. How do you feel that last year, you were just a senior student in Ateneo, and now, you’re finally in the real working world? )

It was a weird feeling being the oldest in school, having control of a lot of things, to being the youngest in the workplace, learning from more experienced people. The transition though is smooth since the mentality and attitude I developed in Ateneo prepared me for the rigors of the working world.

14. Have you received your first paycheck? How does it feel?

Yes, since I started working last April, I have already received my first paycheck. It feels great that I’m now earning my own money.

15. How is working similar or different from studying? Would you rather work or study?

Given that I have experienced both, I love working more. Working provides a different excitement, besides being rewarded for the effort you exerted on your job. What I miss from school though is the constant interaction with friends, but that only makes my current weekend gimiks with friends all the more special since we don’t meet as often like before.

16. What one lesson or experience you learned as an ME student that you would never forget?

The experience of being the MEA president taught me a lot of things. There, I was forced to make decisions given the limited knowledge that I have, I handled groups larger than I would never have imagined, and I was constantly battling with time to finish everything before deadlines. The experience of being a leader consumes a lot of your time, but definitely is worth it. It is tiring and fulfilling, since you know that you are able to contribute significantly to the community that you are a part of.

17. Who is your greatest role model or idol? Why?

My greatest role model or idol would have to be my dad. He is a person of great character and strength. He has a knack for making me laugh through his antics. He has good business acumen, starting up his own business from scratch. Through it all, I know he is doing everything not only for himself, but for me and my other siblings so that we could have a bright future ahead of us.

18. Is there any message you want to tell your friends in your batch and in the younger batches?

For my batchmates, I say let’s plan our next outing! For the younger batch, you might want to befriend the upper batches and get valuable pieces of advice from them, since they have successfully gone through everything that you are experiencing right now.

19. What pieces of advice can you give to those who are in ME?

For me, the attitude you gain, the will to succeed, the creativity of making the most out of limited resources, these things are the ones you find useful after college. You won’t remember the equations and formulas you memorized before, but you will remember the moments you failed, succeeded, and the small get togethers with your closest friends. Cherish every moment, seize every opportunity, and always believe in yourself that you can form your own destiny. In the end though, all of these would be useless and unworthy of your time unless you have fun.

Truly, Nicholas Alvin Tiu Tan is the perfect embodiment of fun and work, humility and success. With his inspiring thoughts and words of wisdom, hopefully, we, MEAns, would not be afraid to dream, aspire, learn and get-going until we reach the clouds and the infinite skies, of course, without taking our feet off the ground.