Bernard Amador – Customer Support Specialist

My name is Bernard F. Amador.

Born on February 21, 1989 in a small town of Lamon, Goa. Camarines Sur, I am the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Amador.

My mother told me that I was a very hyper little boy who always loved to jump – that’s why they gave me my nickname “NAD-NAD” from the word “UNAD UNAD” which means jumping and jumping!

I came from a poor family and when I was born my parents decided to move to Naga City to find jobs. My father was a Driver of a delivery van for a Bakery and my mother is a house wife. After years of working my father decided to set up a little bakery in our barangay where we live, and the business has been there for decades.

I studied my elementary years in a public school at Naga Central School, here in Naga City, province of Camarines Sur. When I was in grade one my mother taught me to ride (without parental supervision) in a public vehicle to get to school. She taught me which vehicle to take – and my brother and I did this daily to get to school. There were times when I struggled to catch the right vehicle as I could only recognise the correct jeepny (public transportation in the Philippines) by its colour. However I was always attentive about the direction to travel and so I was able to get myself and my brother to school. My parents also taught me at that age about how to walk safely across the street. I hear their words in my head “always look left and right and make sure the street is clear before crossing it no matter how long you wait”. Those words will always stick with me – even when I’ve grown old.

I was a thin boy during my elementary days due to my asthma. I was often sick back then and I can’t remember ever having tasted any cold drinks or food, as I was prohibited from eating them because my parents said I will get asthma if I ate them. To this day I don’t quite know what the connection is between cold drinks and ice cream to my asthma – but still I had to obey them… unfortunately! 😀

When I was in 5th grade I regularly played basketball without my parents knowing. I didn’t tell them as I knew they would stop me, saying that the strain would make me sick again… and I desperately wanted to play basketball! I even joined the ‘try out’ for the basketball team for the district meet without their permission. To my delight I was chosen to be part of the team and we were set to compete in the whole region (province).

Sadly, the day before the competition I needed to have my parents permit signed by them… and when I got home to tell them that I was accepted on the basketball team to represent Naga City, they would not sign the permit. They told me I would not be going or competing. It broke my heart and I cried that they did not even recognise what I had achieved! It wasn’t everyday that one was selected to represent their city in a sport they loved. I was terribly disappointed that my team was out playing while I was stuck in a classroom studying to graduate from Elementary School.

After I graduated my plan was to study in one of the highly regarded private schools in the city – Ateneo De Naga University. After passing the entrance exam, I eagerly commenced high school. While my parents told me that we are not rich, they would do their best to get both my brother and I into that school.

At this time I never thought I would get the opportunity to play basketball again… but then…

In my 1st year as a freshmen I was set to join the music club, computer club, and others… and then I discovered there was a subject that would allow me to play basketball again! And even better – the subject was necessary because it was for my grade – it was P.E. 🙂 And we needed to play basketball every week for that subject!

So there I was, back on a court playing the game I loved! And this time I did not let my parents stop me. I qualified to join the Ateneo Basketball Team during my 4th year in high school and competed in the Inter-High School Games. I can remember every time we had a game I had to borrow basketball shoes from my classmates as my parents wouldn’t buy me basketball shoes, as they were opposed to me playing. They wouldn’t even come watch me play – but I still kept going, because it was what I wanted to do and I was happy. I can proudly say our team was the first runner up in that competition.

When my high school years were over and I was considering college, I dreamed of studying in Manila. This would give me the opportunity to be part of a Basketball Team and have a scholarship. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to go as my mother was pregnant, so I deferred on this dream for a year. This also let my brother finish his high school before I could go to college.

I knew I had to be strategic and start thinking of my future rather than pursuing my Basketball career. So I decided to study a vocational course for 2 years as an Aircraft Mechanic. I studied at the Aeronautical Academy of the Philippines. Since my brother had now graduated from high school, we went to college at the same time and were classmates during those years. Fortunately we got 50% scholarships so we were able to finish our course. And we made our parents very proud. 🙂

After our college graduation we began our On-the-Job training at the Manila Domestic Airport – scheduled for about 1 year. Sadly during this time my mother became ill and one of us had to go back to the province, as our parents couldn’t afford both of us to proceed with the training. That’s when we found out that my mother was pregnant with our 4th sister. We were very happy to learn this – and so I resumed my training.

Unfortunately, my mother fell ill again after giving birth, and we were at a loss as to what was causing her illness. She insisted that I stay with my training, even though we were struggling to cover costs.

I turned 21 years of age on February 21, 2010, and my mother told me that for my 21st birthday she would cook for me for my birthday celebration – and she did, even though she was sick. She was very happy, telling me that we were already on the way to fulfilling our potential and dreams. She told me that when I got a job as an aircraft mechanic we could go around the world, or even just on a vacation outside of the country.

A few months passed but she was still sick and deteriorating rapidly. On November 2, 2010 at exactly 1AM my mother passed away in my arms, telling me not to forget my little sisters, and asking me to take care of them. It was like icy cold water being poured in through my veins as my mother’s eyes closed and her breathing slowed to a halt.

After my mother passed away I was not able to go back and continue my training as I needed to stay to take care of my 2 little sisters. One was 4 years old and the youngest 9 months old when my mother passed away.

I applied to a BPO Company in our province to support my family. I started my BPO career in January 2011 as a Customer Service Representative and Technical Support Representative and stayed there for about a year a half.

As I had gained valuable experience in the industry I secured work in Manila where there are more employment opportunities and one can receive a higher compensation from a BPO Company. But after 6 or 7 months working in Manila, my father fell ill so I moved back to our province to take care of him.

After my father was well again I applied to the same BPO Company and the same account, but as a Technical Support Representative and secured work there in 2013. There I meet my wife. She was my coworker. After a year we had a daughter, and at the same time I was promoted to Subject Matter Expert, and after a year I was also certified to be a Team Leader, gained LEAD Training Certification, and handled my own team.

Since I now had a family, my perceptions of life changed a lot.

In 2016 I heard from a colleague that there are jobs that can be found online for part time or full time work and you can get paid in USD. So I decided to try part time work as a Customer Service and Fulfillment Specialist for Amazon for 2-4 hours per week as I was still with the BPO Company, and not have it affect my full time work there.

In 2017 I made the decision to leave my corporate job and follow a career of a home based job. Since then I have been working part time or performing seasonal tasks as a VA, and gaining experience. As my daughter is now 3 years old I am looking to secure a good future to support her financially without going far from my family.

Working at home has also changed my perspective in life. We all know that there are risks with working online. I have also had the experience of being scammed, ie. performing work but not being paid for it. I sometimes worry about what I will do if I do not get any work, but no matter what – I always believe that God will provide and give us his blessing even in the worst times of our lives. Just believe in him and he will guide you through. I always keep these words close: “God will provide”.

This is my story. Thank you!

For a copy of Bernard’s resume please click here.