Thursday, July 31, 2008

Thank You GPIC!

To the respectable GM of GPIC, Mr. Abdulrahman Jawahery,
To the respectable DGM of GPIC, Mr. Yousif Abdalla Yousif,
To Mr. Sami Khairi,
To Mr. Adnan Al-Mahmood,
To ITK department team members,
and to all staff members at GPIC,

I have been training at the IT and Knowledge department for the past two months, and it has been a great privilege and a great honor to be able to experience the work environment in a wonderful company that you lead.

On the outset, I would like to thank Mr. Abdulrahman Jawahery for the wonderful time I have spent at GPIC. It has been a great benchmark for me. I was inspired right from the first day and wanted to do my best and strive to make a difference that GPIC lives to do. I remember the first day I was interviewed with Mr. Adnan AL-Mahmoud, he promised me that in my two months in training, I would get the same experience as if I were an employee at GPIC for a whole year.

I am very proud to say, I have received a whole lot more than a year of work experience!

I have actually watched myself as I have developed into a better, mature and responsible person throughout my stay at GPIC. I have come to understand more about myself and others. All my life, my thoughts were focused on my career and own self-development. At GPIC, I have learned that its so much more than that! Self-development is not just about excelling in profession as I have come to know it. It is about excelling in attitude, morals and ethics. This is something I have learned from you and will never forget. It is just one of the valuable lessons I have come to learn by simply observing and interacting with the great people at the IT and Knowledge Department and at GPIC entirely. I have kept a small diary and wrote at least one thing I have learned each day from GPIC’s IT&K Department. I would go over them every once in a while these past few days, and it always leaves me speechless at the number of valuable lessons on kindness, responsibility, generosity, self-respect, and even creativity practiced in every day life by the people at GPIC!

During my stay, I have observed many things that have touched me deeply. I have seen people, even though they come from different backgrounds, different cultures, and different professions, yet they seem to have found the one thing that brings them together; the smile on every one’s face every time you see them and the daily morning greetings! It delighted me when I saw people like Mr. Yousif Abdallah the DGM greet us in the morning. It also astounded me how one person goes through learning to speak many languages fluently to just be able to interact with other employees and give them comfort and a sense of belonging.

I really saw the special approach that was taken in the department’s meetings. Mr. Adnan had a wonderful way of kicking off a meeting with getting personal news and updates from his team. They did not jump into right into business and barked at everyone to get to work, instead, it always kicked off with an ice-breaker conversations that brought comfort to each individual. Getting personal information and allowing them to speak freely was something that shocked me, as I was taught differently. I think the GPIC way is something very special and very successful.

The personal development programs held at GPIC also attracted my attention. I have never seen leaders care about the self development of their people just as much as they did for the productions produced. I had the privilege to attend two sessions and was extremely impressed at the feedback from the staff members, they were eager to see whats new and take advantage of what GPIC offers them.

Prince, my program manager! He has truly organized a wonderful program for me that allowed me to utilize every hour I spent at GPIC. I was able to learn so much in such a short period of time because of his help.

Working with Mr. Moneim for the last month he spent at GPIC was a great opportunity. I have learned so much from him on IT, software development and attitude. He has a wonderful personality and it was an honor to be his student. What brings me to tears is how he actually cares for me and my future, even though he is on holiday and has only known me for a short time, he has the GPIC trademark of caring for people. I still receive emails from him and enjoy keeping this wonderful relationship with the great people at GPIC.

Meeting and working with everyone including Mr. Tariq Hadi, who always found something helpful and beneficial for me personally, all from his own experience. I really appreciate those times. I have also worked with Mohammad Issa, a wonderful person that was extremely good at what he does. Mr. Tawfeeq took me on a great tour of the server room and I swear, that was one of the best days of my life! It was a simple tour for him, but I have always wanted to explore that side of the IT and he explained everything to me. Thank you Tawfeeq.

I have sat as a student with Mr. Naidu, Mr. Vijay, Mr. BuKhalfan, Mr. BuHaji and Latifa! I feel I have asked so many questions and they always smiled and answered back. It was brilliant how patient they were with me. I am so proud of Naidu earning his SAP certification! It was great celebrating achievements like that. SAP is the greatest ERP system and it was definitely a great opportunity to explore every aspect of it with the IT&K team. I have learned everything from the SAP landscape to the different modules used to programming ABAP for SAP. This is something that I don’t believe any training center specialized in SAP could do for me in such a short period of time!

I was also at GPIC when Mustafa Jr was elected “Employee of the Month”, and boy was that such an exciting event! I felt the entire department’s joy with Mustafa winning the award and it was amazing how everyone was extremely happy and proud of him. It was wonderful to celebrate employees who work hard and set a great example.

I was exposed to many things at GPIC. I was given the opportunity to attend every meeting at IT&K and this is something that I have greatly benefited from personally and professionally. Watching how a leader deals and interacts with others was very important to me, as I believe it is not something leaders practice at work only but also in everyday life.

Learning about the software development and engineering at GPIC is something that I can truly admit cannot be taught at any school or even at any company. The technology used and the practices the employees are using are truly practiced at a high professional standard that I wish to carry with me where ever I go. Watching the employees take on the responsibilities and work together as a team in a quick orderly matter has inspired me to do better for my self and for the workplace. I have been shown that the IT field is more than creating something new from nothing, the creative approach to software development, personal development and management that I have been introduced to confirmed my desire to become a better person and a better leader.

I am very happy to have GPIC as my first work experience; I have felt it was an excellent match for my skills and interests. It has set an example and a standard for me. I believe that I can, and it is my duty, to take the lessons I have learned and introduce them to the places I go to. To make a difference and set the example GPIC has set for me.

In a great way, GPIC has molded me into a much better and well developed person. I have come to GPIC with some expectations and goals that I wanted to achieve by the end of my internship. I am truly proud to say that I have not only achieved my goals, but it has gone far beyond my expectations. I now see things clearly and have a great understanding of business and people.

One thing I feel I have come to realize that I took for granted was appreciating other people. I never took the time to thank the people that worked with me and helped me all my life. I only realized my selfishness when I saw everyday how great it felt when someone showed their appreciation and gratitude towards another person even for the simplest things, like a nice cup of coffee. It had definitely moved me greatly. I was also moved at how, even though each person had his or her differences, they were able to share them and express themselves freely without the fear of hurting another person’s feelings. This is something I learned and am truly trying to practice in my personal life as well.

At first, I thought it was just the IT&K Department that was just so unique and excelled in those aspects. It came to me, after interacting with people from various departments that they all seem to have that special spark in them. This is something I will never forget. The people at GPIC have welcomed me every single day and even the security guard took the opportunity to wish me all the best after I spent my last day. These little moments mean so much to me and will forever be thankful for the time I spent at GPIC.

Everyone I have worked with at GPIC has always found a way teach me something new and share their experiences on the interests I have shared with them. I would like to sincerely appreciate the time and efforts spent on educating me and guiding me with not only software development but also my career goals, and recommending strategies for achieving them. All of the advice and guidance was very helpful and gave me a new perspective on available opportunities in my personal and professional life.

I would like to thank Mr. Mustafa Aydemir and Mr. Hamada Bashir for their wonderful hospitality and for the great deal of time spent in answering my questions and simply throwing new information they wanted to make sure I learn. I was touched by their care and interest in my best benefits; whether it was by inviting me to attend more meetings on various topics that would enhance and broaden my skills or by giving resources and directions that would allow me to reach my goals quicker and more effectively. It definitely has!

Where do I begin to thank the IT&K Manager, Mr. Adnan AL-Mahmood! You are an inspiration. You are a role model. You are so many things I wish I would become one day, inshallah. Right from the first day, you made sure to understand what my skills are and you put me in the right hands of your team to make sure I learn from the best on the best practices. Your “open door policy” is incredible, I was hesitant at first to interrupt you from your work, but you always seemed to manage multi-tasking in a professional level mashallah. Your concern in people’s best interest astonished me and I wish to follow that. I believe in the holistic vision and strategy and hope to carry that same energy with me and make a difference. You have brought me back into believing in myself and about the dreams I have put aside. That itself means a lot to me. Your passion in bringing new and more to GPIC is astonishing. Thank you. Thank you. I will be forever grateful for the day we met and the days I worked with you. It has been a great opportunity and I am touched at your care in staying in touch and checking on me every once in a while. When I do great things, it is because you inspired me to. It is not coincidence that I have come to GPIC to work with you, Moneim, Tariq, Mustafa, Hamada, Prince, and the ITK team! It means something and I feel blessed to have been given this opportunity.

I especially appreciate the interest on following up with me in the future and welcoming my calls at any time for assistance and friendly hellos. It has touched my heart how much you really care for me.

No matter how many times I thank you, it will never be enough to show my gratitude. I really, really appreciate all the effort you, the team, and everyone at GPIC have put into creating a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for me to work in. I am confident that the new skills I have gained from the internship will enable me to be a productive member of any team I join in the future as it will in my personal life.

Writing this letter has not been easy for me as the quality of the two short months I have spent at GPIC is so valuable to me personally and I feel I words can not describe my gratitude.

I would like to extend my thanks to Mr. Hamada Bashir, Mr. Mustafa Aydemir, Mr. Prince, Mr. Tariq Hadi, Mr. Moneim, Mr. Tawfeeq, Mr. Mohd Issa, Mr. Mustaf Jr., Mr. Yousif Bukhalfan, Mr. Yousif Buhajji, Mr. AbdulQader, Miss Latifa, Mr. Naidu, Mr. Vijay, Mr. Satish, Mr. Naser (I love your coffee!), Mr. Ramu from intelligroup, everyone from intelligroup and all of my new friends including Ms. Najat, Ms. Reema, Ms. Qoot, Miss Lulu and Ms. Sabah. I would like to extend my regards and appreciation to everyone at GPIC for their wonderful hospitality. I will never forget each and every one of you! I wish you all joy, happiness and love. Please forward my thanks to them.

I hope I did not miss anyone, there were many wonderful people at GPIC that I have met and want to thank them. GPIC has greatly contributed in me and I take it as a responsibility to pass that forward.

Thank you for your hospitality and generosity, I forever will recognize it.
Best Regards,

Shaymaa AL-Terkait

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