Forwarding Address: Carrying Forward What Matters

Over the past several weeks, I wrote a three-part series on transition.

The Series Was Personal

I wrote about:

• Crossing Over—the endings that arrive in our lives, whether we are ready or not.
• Becoming Again—the uncertain space that follows when there is no map and no clear path forward.
• What Remains—the values, lessons, and ways of being that survive after roles, titles, and familiar structures have faded.

What I did not say at the time was that these reflections were not entirely academic. They were personal because while writing them, I was preparing for a transition of my own. 

Thirty-Three Years at One Address

Recently, I began a new chapter as Assistant Postmaster General of the Philippine Postal Corporation.

For many people, a change in position is simply that—a career move. But some transitions carry a different weight. They involve not only a change in role but also the closing of a chapter that has shaped a significant portion of one's life.

The Civil Service Commission was my first employer. It was where I entered government service as a young professional trying to understand both work and life. It was where I learned leadership, navigated challenges, built lasting friendships, and discovered a sense of purpose in public service.

Thirty-three years is a long time. It is long enough for an institution to become more than a workplace. and long enough for the milestones of a career to become intertwined with the milestones of a life.

When I look back, I realize that many of my most important life events unfolded alongside my journey at the CSC. The growth of my career, the growth of my family, the lessons learned through success and failure, the people who influenced me, and the opportunities that shaped me all happened during those years.

In many ways, the timeline of my life and the timeline of my CSC career became difficult to separate. I did not simply work at the CSC. I grew up there.

Carrying Forward

Perhaps that is why the subject of transition has occupied my thoughts in recent months. Transition becomes different when what you are leaving behind is not merely a position, but an institution that has accompanied you through much of your adult life.

Yet one of the lessons I have learned from writing this series is that transition is not primarily about leaving. It is about carrying forward.

We often think of change as a departure. We focus on what is ending, what is being left behind, and what will no longer be part of our daily lives. But over time, I have come to see transition differently.

The most important things do not stay behind. The lessons, values, relationships, experiences, and wisdom earned through years of service remain. What changes is the context in which we carry them.

This realization feels particularly meaningful as I begin work in an institution whose mission has always been about connection. In the postal system, a forwarding address ensures that important mail or parcels continue their journey even after someone has moved.

Perhaps life works much the same way. We do not leave behind everything that shaped us. We carry forward the lessons, relationships, values, and experiences accumulated over time. The destination changes, but the journey continues.

Connecting the Dots

Looking back, I also realize that my own professional journey has never been linear. Over the years, I have worked across different fields and responsibilities—human resource management, competency systems, performance management, mediation, leadership development, digital transformation, records management, project management, organizational development, business networking business, and policy work.

At various points, these transitions felt unrelated. Today, they seem connected. Each role prepared me for the next one. Each transition expanded my perspective. Each ending made possible a beginning I could not yet see.

Perhaps that is why I have come to believe that transitions are not interruptions to our journey. They are part of the journey itself.

The Address May Have Changed

No role lasts forever. No title is permanent. No chapter continues indefinitely.

The question is not whether change will come. It always does. The question is whether we are willing to continue growing when it does.

As I begin this new chapter, I do so with deep gratitude for the institution that shaped much of my professional life and with optimism for what lies ahead.

The address may have changed, but the commitment to public service remains the same. And perhaps that is the most important lesson transition teaches us. The things that matter most are not found in the positions we hold. They are found in what we carry forward when we move on.

— APMG Noreen

An Open Letter to My CSC Family

On a weekend in the first week of June, after writing to our Chairperson to formally notify her of my move to the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost), I took on what I considered an equally important task.

I started reaching out to many of you—my fellow colleagues in the Civil Service Commission (CSC)—one at a time.

Your reactions initially varied, which is completely understandable. Some of you were caught off guard, others intrigued, and a few even thought I was joking! Many of you quickly wanted to know what had happened and why I was leaving after more than thirty years at the CSC. It’s heartwarming to see such genuine interest and concern from all of you.

But as our conversations unfolded, something beautiful happened. Every person I reached out to sent me their well-wishes.

Some sent short messages. Others shared memories. A few called. In some cases, people called others before responding to me, as if they needed to confirm the news was real before they could process it. I understood. I was trying to process it, too.

Many of you may be wondering why I chose to message people individually rather than simply post an announcement. The answer is simple. The CSC has been my professional home for more than three decades.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with many of you in various capacities and roles. Some of you became mentors. Some became trusted colleagues. Some became close friends. Others crossed my path only briefly, yet your kindness, support, encouragement, or example left a lasting impression on me.

When you spend three decades in an institution, people stop being names on an organizational chart. They become part of your story. That is why it felt important to tell you personally.

As I sent those messages, I realized something that surprised me. I did not feel like I was leaving.

Yes, I am moving to a different institution. Yes, I will assume the role of Assistant Postmaster General at PHLPost. But emotionally, it did not feel like a departure. Instead, it felt as though I were bringing my CSC family with me.

The lessons I learned, the values I absorbed, the friendships I formed, and the people who challenged, guided, corrected, encouraged, and believed in me will all accompany me into this next chapter.

In many ways, you will be my lifeline. Whenever I face unfamiliar challenges, difficult decisions, or moments of uncertainty, I know I will draw on the wisdom, experience, and relationships nurtured within the CSC. The institution may have shaped me, but the people within it made that journey meaningful.

The CSC shaped the professional I became. It taught me that public service is not merely a career—it is a commitment. It taught me that institutions endure because of people who quietly and faithfully do their work every day. It taught me that leadership is service, that integrity matters, and that every process, policy, and decision ultimately exists to improve others' lives.

These lessons do not stay behind when we leave the office. They travel with us. That is why I do not see this transition as a goodbye. I see it as a continuation of a journey that began many years ago, when a young professional first stepped into the CSC Central Office lobby, uncertain of what the future would hold.

This coming week, I begin a new chapter at another institution. Yet a large part of who I am was shaped by the CSC. For that, I will always be grateful.

To my CSC family, thank you. Thank you for the opportunities, trust, friendships, lessons, laughter, challenges, and memories. Thank you for helping shape not only my career but also my life.

Please know that wherever I go, I carry a piece of the CSC with me. In many ways, I carry all of you with me, too.

With gratitude and affection,

Direk Noreen