By Ar Jay Castro Villanueva
What is teaching? It is a way of uncovering pieces of information, concepts, dexterity, and exceptional styles to students. Even if humans have persisted and transformed as species because of their capability to give knowledge, teaching as a profession did not come into sight until relatively recently.
Teaching is the noblest profession. Such statement is commonly heard from the people who sop up the irritating chalk dusts from the four corners of the classroom and from those who burn their midnight oils so as to come up with the first – rate and excellent lecture notes that may edify the young minds of the students. Teachers are considered as the pillars of the society because without them, other professionals will not come into being. They are the unsung connoisseurs that open the doors and windows of éclat. Engineers who cook up the latest technology, nurses who cure our illnesses and astronomers who observe the movements of heavenly bodies will not subsist without the guidance of a TEACHER.
It was not my choice to become a teacher because I thought that I do not have any remarkable finesse in instruction. My first choice in the tertiary level was any engineering course because my numerical adroit father ordered me to do so when one day we have a tete a tete. Such decision was even backed up by my high school friends. Perhaps, due to their strong influence, I did take Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering (BS in ECE) even if I am deeply aware that such course is wrapped with numerous Math subjects.
I am the type of learner who does not like Math. I can still remember those nights when my father and I stay together in our living room and solve those mind boggling mathematical equations and problem sets. If I cannot solve them properly, my father will squeeze my brain cells (figuratively, of course) and utter that he will not give me baon on the next day of schooling. On those times, I imagined that magical creatures like the classic fictional character, Genie (a magical spirit in Arabian folktale that has magical powers and will obey the commands of the person who summons it) should apparate and will gift me with a single wish. Indubitably, my ultimate wish is to remove all the Math subjects being offered in various institutions or taking such subjects should not be one of the requirements that you have to fulfil in order to receive your diploma. If that will happen, I think all the teachers who are handling such will become infuriated. Yes, I really hate Mathematics. I am totally nonchalant with regard to Mathematics because I cannot find any enthusiastic portion of that subject. Whenever we have a departmental exam in Math, I am one of those examinees who will stretch (very painful to the eyes) his/her eyeballs without turning his head just to have a squint on the solutions to problem sets that were written on the examination booklets of my seatmates.
As they (the examiners) always say, bamboozling does not have any space in a testing area. So, I have to do strategic actions to copy the answers of my seatmates so that the examiner will never catch me cheating. This was the main reason why I gave up BS in ECE as my course in college. I thought that I will never attain the summit of Mount Everest (that is how I describe success) if I will always dupe whenever we have a test in Algebra and Trigonometry, the first two Math subjects that should be taken by a freshman engineering student. It was a very tough decision that I made. Since, I have discerned from the very beginning that seeing his son devising electronic gizmos has always been the dream of my father. When my father knew what happened, he scolded me but I explained everything to him very well. Since, he is au courant to entirety, including the trends in college, he understood all my points.
I was totally clueless about the next course that I have to take. Then, my mother suggested that I will just take education. She told me that since Math subjects are not friendly to me, then, why not take a crack at the course that requires self - confidence as well as good oral and written communication – the Bachelor of Arts in English Studies (ABES). Yes, I shifted to the said course and studied at the same university where I took up BS in ECE. The ABES has two major fields – the Communication Arts (Broadcasting) and English as a Second Language (Teaching).
As I mentioned earlier, it was not my personal choice to become a teacher. I believe that I did turn out to be a teacher because of my mother’s sincere prayer to God. She thought that her son will materialize her ambition that did not come into reality. My mother studied in one of the universities in our place with the degree, Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSE). While my father tried to finish Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BS in EE) in the university where my mother took her college degree. Here, they met each other and eventually became “friends”. Such friendship did last which I consider as the primary reason why they did not complete their respective degrees in the tertiary level. Despite that, I am still fortunate because they supported all my undertakings in life. Before, I thought that I will not finish my course on time but because of determination and perseverance, I did graduate last April 2006 in the most prestigious and the grandest university in the North. Right after my graduation, I was hired as an English, Humanities and Literature teacher to the university where I came from. From there, my ordinary life was transformed into something that is really distinctive. I realized that I am no longer a student. I am now a blacksmith that hones and sharpens the minds of the learners. However, instead of using hammer and anvil, I utilize chalkstones and blackboards.
From Monday to Friday, I go to school to teach my somewhat bull – headed (well, everyone is allowed to tell his or her opinion) yet sensible and rational students. They are the reasons why I wake up at 5 in the morning to catch my 7:30 class. They are also the reasons why I receive monthly payments for the non manual works that I do in the academe. Even if sometimes, they give me headaches because they do not observe proper decorum, I still love them because without my students my life as a teacher won’t be complete. I love teaching. I consider it as my vitamin that will give me the strength or extraordinary skill to do things. It is likened to an addictive drug which stimulates my mind and spirit to strive for excellence inside the classroom. For me, teaching does not only mean irritating chalk dusts, mind breaking lecture notes and sagging blackboards. It is a matter of pushing the students closer to their dreams or positive outlooks by inculcating the knowledge and values that they deserve to get. We are considered as the candles which will give light to their pathways as they trace victorious achievements. Without us, their ambitions will become bitter and very uneasy to obtain. Furthermore, I believe that the lessons which I learned in college are not enough to give the proper education that my students are craving for. So, I enrolled in a Graduate School to upgrade the present level of my knowledge and to learn the latest pedagogical trends. Truly, teaching is the noblest profession.
