Gratitude is Good For the Soul
How do you spend your birthday? In your 20s, most young adults celebrate their birthday with their friends and family by sharing a nice meal, relaxing on the beach, or even taking a trip. Our Service Solutions Technician, Cana Bukikosa, chooses to fill her heart and soul by doing something impactful in the community. On her birthday, Cana celebrates by significantly changing someone else’s life for the better by volunteering at the Salvation Army Food Pantry and thrift store. (YAY! Cana, your commitment is amazing!)
Serving others and making a difference isn’t something new for Cana. Cana Bukikosa is a Service Solutions Technician and is passionate about making somebody else’s day better and brighter. When asked about why she volunteers, she mentioned one significant value: gratitude. Volunteering provides a way for her to use her skills and energy to give back, but seeing the fruits of her labor, and the expressions of appreciation from those she helps is what fuels Cana’s desire to continue volunteering.
Cana knows the value of caring as she reflects on how her role improves lives in the community. As a Service Solutions Technician, she plays an essential role in the everyday lives of our customers, ensuring their communication services are working while providing a positive customer experience.
“Seeing people in their safe spaces and for them to come out and be so thankful for [Wi-Fi and TV]… Sometimes, you don’t realize the amount of work you do…but when they show gratitude, it makes you think ‘this is why I do it.’"
Finding gratitude in our everyday lives can help us see our situations in ways that can lessen anxiety and help us cope with grief. Around the time of her birthday, Cana experienced a death in the family sparking an inner conflict between mourning a loss and celebrating life. “I felt guilty... [But] I made peace with it. My cousin wouldn’t have wanted me to sulk.” Cana resolved to find healing and rejoice in a positive way that would also honor her cousin’s memory: by finding comfort in helping others.
Cana also shared that volunteering makes all the difference in supporting wellbeing. When the early stages of the pandemic made socializing difficult, she said volunteering helped to reduce loneliness through reliable relationships. “I loved coming to work, but it was getting harder to cope.” The support of her loved ones kept her going, but surprisingly, she also took comfort in her work. She was thankful that her coworkers and leaders called to see how she was doing, preventing her from suffering in isolation. Cana hopes that by sharing her experiences and struggles, it lifts others and creates a safe space to talk about mental health and work through challenges together.
GTA’s Employee Volunteer Program, “Team Up For Guam,” combines the commitment and compassion of our employees and the strength of GTA’s brand to empower our island community. Volunteering aligns with our mission to foster connection and delight the community through everything we do. By sharing their stories through #gtaworklife, we hope it inspires others to do the same.
If you want to find a cause that you are passionate about, improve your own mental health and help others, then get started by volunteering!
Thank you, Cana, for living our mission, vision, and values. You are a treasure, and it’s people like you that make GTA a Great Place to Work!
If you'd like to read more employee work life stories, head over to our employee blog page, where you can find a collection of the best of them. GTA is currently looking for skilled talent to grow our GTA Familia. Learn more about our open roles here.
To find out more about their journey, connect with them on LinkedIn.