Marivel Daraman-Solito – Estimator, Engineer
I am Marivel Daraman-Solito. (Yes, the hyphen is legally correct.) I got married in 2021, turned my back on my 6-year career, and became a full-time housewife. There are a lot of factors that lead me to this decision though:
- CoViD 19 was really scary. Before the pandemic hit, I was diagnosed with autoimmunity and have been doing some therapy to suppress my immune system. This made me heavily immunocompromised. I actually have been wearing face masks to protect myself even before it became a global fashion statement for everybody.
- A side effect of that diagnosis was photosensitivity. I was prescribed to avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight. Being a Civil Engineer and not being able to stay out to do field work was quite contradictory – lucky for me, I was working for the Department of Health. So, everyone understood the medical condition that I am in and allowed some provisions in my roles and responsibilities (it meant more office, coordinating, reports, and paperwork for me.)
- I am a big fan of fairy tales. So, when I said “Yes, I do.”, I said yes to my happily-ever-after, too. I went and built the castle of my dreams with my prince charming.
- Back to reality though, my husband was assigned to a different city. One of us had to make a compromise and sacrifice our career. I believe he has a brighter one than mine so I quit to support him in his profession. We relocated.
It’s been more than a year now since I shifted from daily scheduling tasks and workloads to planning what to cook for lunch and dinner for the day, from drowning myself with Excel numbers and preparing Powerpoint presentations to carefully measuring ingredients for baking, from carefully surveying and implementing plans on my project sites to enjoying crafting and drafting patterns of dresses to sew. Others may argue how I am doing it backward, but I was once told that when you are not sure about which decision to take, always choose the one which you will be proud to tell your grandchildren about. This is a story that I will always be happy to share – that in the middle of our fast-paced world, I dared to slow it down.
I never knew I could actually do housekeeping. But no matter how fascinated and happy I am with these new-found joys, I still believe that I did not strive so much into studying and continuing my professional development just to totally put it off. Still, the career-woman in me has been longing for the challenge of hitting targets and the adrenaline rush that is brought by beating deadlines. So here I am again, trying to find ways to satisfy my need to be mentally stimulated while still being able to prioritise my health.
In my research, work-from-home jobs are what fit best my circumstances. However, I do recognise that I am making an even bigger step here to transition to a whole new working environment and I might be struggling to find my ‘niche’. But I really have the desire now to have the luxury of owning most of my time and still be able to grow a career at the same time. As a matter of fact, I am so enthralled to stumble upon your job posting which offers a variety of professional services that I may enter into. I know I have nurtured valuable skills in project management and coordination due to my previous job, but I never thought that I could turn my college hobby in graphics designing and my passion for reading-writing-story-telling into a possible career.
Although there are surely a lot of uncertainties because it feels like I am starting all over again, more than anything, I am excited.
Thank you for hearing my story. It is so refreshing to share these and I actually found myself smiling whilst I type these words.
For a copy of Marivel’s resume please click here.