WE ARE IMPORTANT BUT NEVER INDISPENSABLE

Post date: Jun 21, 2018 1:00:42 AM

By: Sammy Y. Sabello

Teacher II, City of Balanga National High School

Being a teacher, as a profession, is the most celebrated. In fact, it can be comparable to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Chocolates, flowers and celebration cards can be all over the place during Teacher’s Day when the world dedicates, celebrates, and thanks their mentors. And on this day, we would be likened to walking on cloud nine as if we are totally celebrities being greeted here and there by our present and past students. Yet, what is it that we do to deserve such treatment from the world?

To live a life as a teacher is different from the way others live their lives. As they say, “Teaching is a vocation.” We do so much without asking anything in return. We stay up late and we wake up early. We find happiness in little things and to see our students succeed makes all the difference in our world.

To live life as a teacher is a lifestyle. Friday night is the best night to rest and not to party and weekends are for next week’s lesson preparation. Semestral break and summer time are for in-set seminars and not for getaways. Instead of liquors, coffee is our late-night company. We dress up simply in our uniforms and when we want to be fashionable, the pair of shoes we wear for the 8-hour duty must say it all. Aside from these, as much as we try to avoid, we have developed this eye for details that we easily notice when something’s not right. And so, we are often found “reactionary” if not “too authoritative” by people around us like family and friends. Remember those times, when people you mingle with said, “Hind mo ako estudyante…” (I’m not your student…).

To live a life as a teacher means giving up apart of you. It is hard to say this but after quite sometime giving in to your calling as an educator makes you change who you are and let go of your worldly pleasures. This is not taught in school, but a teacher / mentor must understand that once you enter the classroom you have the potential to influence a young’s mind view of everything around him, you must aim to become the best of

who you are. They say, it is okay not to be perfect, but as teachers, they expect you to become one. How many times have you been reminded of the phrases, “Teacher ka pa naman…” (Too bad, you are a teacher…) and “Teacher ka kasi…” (It’s because you are a teacher…)

To live life as a teacher makes you liable of the mistakes of others (Breath in. Breath out). When things don’t go well, it is a teacher’s fault. A student’s performance is the result of how you do your job. Ever wonder how much power you have over the future? It is in the way you teach and influence your class. There really is nothing glamorous in being a teacher. It is very important that those who want to enter in this profession be oriented accordingly.

The moment you start complaining about the life you live as a teacher is more than enough reason for you to leave your vocation. If you see yourself, playing around, going glamorous, spitting out nonsense in class, and trying to go against what is moral, you don’t belong in this noble profession. You could go somewhere and be the person that you want to be. This might not be the best place for you. Sacrifice, hard work, and a good heart are only some of the requirements. Being a teacher demands and asks so much from the chosen ones. Those who are called must forge in front and proudly say that they have lived a teacher’s life to the fullest. Let us not look at ourselves as somebody indispensable boasting that the world needs us because having few dedicated individuals intending to change the world for the better is much needed than having troops of conceited and narcissistic people whose concern is of themselves. When you know you are important, sacrifice, work hard, and have a good heart. These are the very reasons why the world is thanking us.