The Chosen Few

I miss teaching. To start with,  never did I imagine myself teaching even if I came from a family of teachers. Oh yes, I passed through that stage of play pretend, even using the doors of the house, to the dismay of my mom,  to be my blackboard. I had a friend who finished Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from UST, I thought she'd pursue Medicine. But I was surprised when I found out that she accepted a job in one of the good schools in Manila. Why teach? But I really admired her for that big decision. I didn't realize that a few years after that I would be on the same boat. I started with a medical course in college only to find myself shifting to another course which was closer to my heart. I thought teaching was only about talking to your students about the lessons for the day, making and checking quizzes, doing projects, etc. But I was proven wrong when I started teaching. I thought teaching was just another profession, but I soon realized that teaching is not for everyone. I was lucky enough to experience teaching in a school where they make you realize that teaching is not an ordinary profession. In fact, it's not a profession at all! It is a vocation. There is more to teaching. More is expected of you "when you are called to be one." It is not simply telling a story, writing tests, checking homeworks, or singing songs. It's controlling your temper when the whole class goes crazy, giving hope to a student who feels like a loser, it's giving time to sit and listen to the stories and heartaches of your students. It's like being a mom or a dad, an older brother or sister, even a playmate. Day in and day out you share yourself to your students. Each day poses new challenges and new adventures for both you and your students. It's not a one way street though.  In teaching, you get to discover more and more about yourself. I am at present "on leave" and this made me appreciate this vocation more. In this sharing, I would like to salute all the people who made an effort to respond to this vocation. It is not easy to stay in this profession knowing that it is not financially rewarding. But there is more to money. The respect, the admiration, the love of your students, and the success of your students are just some of the many priceless rewards you get from teaching. I am now not surprised why people like my friend accept and embrace what teaching has to offer. After all, she is one of the chosen few.