“The Essence of Being a Teacher”

City Of Balanga National High School

When I ponder of finding the essence of being a teacher, I immediately recall the answer of Miss Universe Sushmita Sen (Miss India at the 1994 Miss Universe Contest) with the question of, “What is the essence of being a woman?” Her reply: "Just being a woman is God’s gift. The origin of a child is a mother, a woman. Woman is sharing, she shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about. That is the essence of a woman." Although this passage is not related to the teacher, however her answer brought with me three unforgettable words which I considered as the essence of being a teacher – sharing, caring, and loving. Then I try to look at the meaning of the word “essence” in the dictionary and it says, “The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something.” I was amazed and also was touched with the relationships of these terms – essence equals sharing, caring and loving. I had discovered an equation which brings me to the real essence of being a teacher.

Teaching is a noble profession and is a common denominator to all. But with much appreciation and encouragement, I have the boldness to say, “I am proud to be a teacher.” I believe that everything is just upon God’s arrangement that’s why He had placed me here. Being a teacher is not an obligation or responsibility. If this is our connotation and even motto as educator, then we’re finished with our profession. Teaching is more than obligation, duty and responsibility. It’s more on sharing what you’ve got, what you have or even what you possessed. To the extent that, we have nothing left in ourselves. We have driven so much to do these things because we care and love our students without any preferences. Our students spend so much time with us (teachers) compared t?o their family. Meaning, much of their time must not be wasted and put in to vain. This is our opportunity to show them that they were important. We are those people who are channels of God which may give meaning to their existence here on earth.

Our task as a teacher is not that simple and easy. Often times, we need to sacrifice because everything seems like “petmalu” the reason we need more “werpa” in order to accomplish everything with contentment and satisfaction in our heart and even peace in our mind. There's no heavy burden in it, if we only carry it with care and love. Mary Ann Dequina mentioned in her article in Panay News; “The essence of being a teacher is the ability to make a positive impact on their students. Good teachers set high expectations and motivate the students to meet that expectations. As students strive for excellence, teachers assist their students in meeting their highest potentials.”

We should put love in and even love everything that we do; indeed, when we love our job, it does not feel like working at all.