It was the day before my birthday way back 2016 when I suddenly received a message coming from my college professor asking if I was interested to teach because they’re actually looking for one.
It was six months after my college graduation, six long months trying to enjoy life and celebrate my achievement of graduating college. That was my ultimate goal, to graduate from college. But then I found out, I haven’t figured everything out. What’s next? I was clueless. Clueless and desperate to figure everything out. I said yes. I replied yes. Fast forward, I was hired, the chosen one among seven competitive applicants. Maybe I got lucky, maybe I had it coming, whichever it is, I’m now really a teacher.
Very minor life adjustments and I’m good to go. Easy. I was wrong. I found out that
1. A teacher needs to study the lessons beyond the textbook and the syllabus, and have access to a large collection of references.
2. A teacher needs to stay up beyond midnight, sometimes like a call center agent on a graveyard shift, just to balance work and life.
3. A teacher needs to be an economist – must be able to stretch a very limited supply of resources to meet the demands of and beyond work.
4. A teacher needs to be a mind-reader, must be able to tell and understand what each of the students are going through.
5. A teacher needs to be a police officer, breaking off quarrelling students and catfights by the hallway.
6. A teacher needs to be a guidance counselor, giving (sometimes unsolicited) counsel to students who rarely gets it.
7. A teacher needs to be a multimedia star, supervising and even training the students in the arts for different competitions.
8. A teacher needs to be sports enthusiast to coach the students during university intramurals and athletic meets.
9. A teacher needs to be a great story teller ala MMK to make the students understand the concepts in a layman’s perspective. (guilty!)
10. A teacher needs to be a good role model (which I surely am not).
11. A teacher needs to be bulletproof, having classes even though gunshots and airstrikes are still heard.
12. Sometimes a teacher needs to be a priest, a pastor, and an imam too!
On top of these, a teacher needs to love like a mother and be firm like a father, close like a sister and dependable like a brother. And it is a plus if we can treat them as our younger siblings and have fun with them.
A teacher needs to be loved. Oh wait. I’m not going to go down that path.
A teacher also needs, while performing the mentioned tasks, to check quizzes, exams, reports, prepare lesson logs, lesson plans, compute grades, hold PTA conferences, chaperone students in field trips, spend overnights in the school, prepare for school functions, and so much more!
While I was writing this post was when I actually realized how complicated and demanding this profession is. I may not be all of those things, but I guess I speak in behalf of us when I say teachers really are underpaid in relation to the impact that they give and the work that they are doing.
I felt tired and was burnt out from time to time, making me think of other career paths, but the personal satisfaction that teaching gives me far outweighs the effort exerted. The messages and gestures of appreciation from the students, a simple thank you, the friends and connections that one gain for life and the strong social support, are all so overwhelming that it energizes you and keeps you going.
The lives that we touch and nurture – the future engineers, accountants, presidents, world and community leaders, doctors, nurses, businessmen, police officers, pilots, seamen, military men, attorneys, more teachers – truly the builders of our society.
It is because of these noble men and women that you are able to read this post, and I owe my ability to write the very same people. And for that I’ll be forever grateful.
Happy teachers’ day, ma’ams and sirs!
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