Leaders/Teachers

I've been wanting to write about this,
but time has made me quite busy these days.


Here are some lines to ponder:

"A good teacher is like a candle -
it consumes itself to light the way for others."
-Author Unknown

Teachers, or Leaders must be like that:
"LIGHT" the way for others
so that the way may be bright.....
even if it means sacrificing oneself .

"FOR OTHERS"
This is the Jesuit way, I heard.
But this tenet must not be limited to those under
Jesuit tutelage.
It should be every person's.
Having a lot for yourself would be greediness.
SHARING your time, your help,
a piece of yourself is the best gift to humankind.

I have had the opportunity
to teach in small and big groups,
both adult and young kids
in Inang Bayan and in this place where
Fate has placed me.

I felt frustrated at times, because of the poor response
from my students. Lack of self-confidence,
fear of making mistakes, and difficulty in
pronunciation have always been hindrance
to good communication among my adult students.
They are even afraid to establish eye contact.

This is quite the opposite among young ones
who repeat and mimic almost anything.

I have always advised them to use simple words:
words they can easily say and remember.

But they seem not to speak up.
Most just smiled.

Thus, I have been mulling on giving up
on my adult classes since last sem.

But at the affair before the summer vacation,
some students made presentations:
some did magic, some sang, and
a student delivered a speech.
At the end of her speech, she faced me,
looked me at the eye, and said:
"Thank you very much, Ms. C."

I couldn't move.
I sat there frozen.
I was speechless.
And tears rolled down my cheeks.....

I knew then
that I must continue and share what I have.....


"A hundred years from now,
it will not matter what my bank account was,
the kind of I drove,
or the type of house I live in.......
but the world may be different,
because I was important
in the Life of a person."

***