Teacher – You’re My Hero!



When we say or hear the word “HERO”, kids and even adults usually imagine or think about these super hero characters that have super powers. Fictional characters that can fly, read your minds, have super strength, or can make waters move or fire up some lasers through their hands. It’s time to face the reality and come back down to our real world, who are our heroes?

There are actually a number of recognized heroes in this world, we just don’t talk about them that much like these fictional characters. We have our national hero, or the ordinary people who was able to save our life in a situation that will take some great courage and no, they don’t have super strength nor they can’t fly or ran fast, it’s only their heart and mind that they’re using to be able to do such heroic thing.

One of these people (for me) are the teachers. Really, I can’t imagine our world without the teachers, if we’re all selfish enough that we don’t like to share our knowledge to someone who we are not even related with, to a kid or a teenager who’s not even yours and talks back at you, to these people who wants to have what you know so that they would also know.

Yes, they’re paid but most of the teachers here in the Philippines are still in need of more income. Why? For there are situations where they have to provide chalks, paper, and other tools for them to be able to teach well to their students – this usually happening in the public schools. So still, though they’re earning their money still goes to their students.

Another thing that I can’t and don’t want to do is that, to still work beyond working hours. At work, I’m even watching the time to complete to 8 hours and I’m …WOOOOSH!... gone! I’m so excited to go out and go home to sleep or eat, relax and do my thing. But the teachers, they need to prepare their lessons for tomorrow, make quizzes, exams, submit reports, student grades, etc.

Also, I can’t imagine myself handling more than 3 kids – I can’t even take my 3 nieces longer with me how much more if we’re not related? The classrooms in the public school are usually full of students, probably around 50 kids in one class and one (1) teacher is handling and teaching them all. Kids with different families, different attitudes, manners, learning speed, needs and attention to give, I’m going crazy just imagining it and how much more if I’m in that situation.

I’ve recently got in contact with my previous teachers and most of them would say they miss me. I’m not sure if I’m the teacher’s favorite, it’s just that I was CUTE (that’s what they say - *vomit*) back then and they all want to hug me, kiss me, tease me and now… I just wish instead of the teachers doing it, it would be the boys – LOL. Just kidding!

So to let you see and know more why I think too that the teachers are heroes, here’s an infographic I found online that tells you how hard it is to be in the field of teaching. Though the status below is the US, the point is still there.



Teacher – You’re My Hero!

Today is actually the Philippines TEACHER’S DAY, so I would like to dedicate this post to all my teachers (including college instructors) who I believe contributed a lot to who I am now as a person, as a professional and a citizen of this country.

Let me share with everyone today the teacher’s that I can still remember that also have helped me to who I am today, and they are:

TEACHER PERLITA

Kinder 1
She’s my first teacher that’s why I can remember her and she’s the first, she’s the one convinced me that I am actually a girl. Yeah! Yeah! I thought I was a boy just like my brother. I even asked my Mom back then why I have different ahhhh…. Down there (you know, down below!) comparing to my brother (because I saw them peeing outside with my cousin – who’s also a boy).

My brother was my baby sitter, he was the one playing with me and taking care of me if he’s not at school since he’s the oldest. So yes, I was close to him and then I thought I was a boy. I don’t like talking about this because some people think I’m a lesbian – but really I’m not. - that someone (a girl) actually kissed me and see what’s my reaction and I was like “EWWW…YAK!”. I may look like one or act like one but I prefer hunting and dating boys – sorry girls! LOL.

So thanks to Teacher Perlita (I don’t know her last name) for talking to me back then because I’m early over to gender crisis (haha..) at a very early age.

TEACHER ANNE

Grade 3
I think she’s already about 37 today and still not married. That’s how she’s serious about teaching, and I actually asked her I think last year why she’s not yet married and she said she just want to wait and enjoy her single life.

Teacher Anne is very good in English, it’s because of her I started loving to write though I know some grammar and sentence construction is not correct but hey! At least I tried. Also, after talking to her after almost 15 years she was able to realize that we should just enjoy our single life. If you meet a guy today, get married tomorrow, why not right? She said that because when you’re married you can’t think of yourself anymore, you have a partner and you’ll have kids, and you will prioritize them than yourself so where’s the fun? After all the hard work, working almost 24/7 you don’t get anything out of it?

It was a matter of timing when we get to talk because at that time I was like “am I that ugly?”, I see my friends with boyfriends, my classmates getting married, my other classmates getting pregnant even without getting married. Some people even ask why I don’t have a boyfriend yet, I just usually say “none have yet mistakenly landed on me.”

So if it wasn't for teacher Anne, I may not be a blogger now - so there will be no Exotic Philippines, in short - and probably I'm one of those girls who got married early to a man I don't know much or probably pregnant by a guy who was there during ON THE MAKING and when the product (baby) is there they magically disappears. So yes, that's why I am not in a hurry to be in a relationship because I'm just enjoying and grabbing the opportunity to be selfish (LOL). So that by the time I get married (I hope so), there's no regrets.

TEACHER DAWN

Substitute Teacher – Grade 5 /Owner of the School
I’m still in contact with her and I’m not even sure if she knows me or remembers me. She was a substitute for our MUSIC lessons for about a month (I think) but with that span of time she marked a huge part of me and I believe to my classmates too – we are all excited and geared up when it’s her subject already.

She’s the one who let us watch the movie “THE SOUND OF MUSIC” of Julie Andrews. It’s an old movie but still works magically. Up to now I still remember the songs, the story though we just watched it once. Since then I started to love music and then I became a fan of the Spice Girls then well, of course Britney Spears and up to now.

MA’AM JANET

College
Since day 1, I’ve already admired her. She’s calm, smart and teach very well. If she’s on the board, she will have my attention because i know if I listen to her I will learn something priceless. If it was not for her, I wouldn’t have that interest, motivation and perseverance in learning programming. Yes, she’s our computer programming language instructor and I would say she’s pretty awesome!

I’ve heard before that Ma’am Janet talked to someone about choosing another field to study because she can see – and even I can tell – that this student does not have that much of interest, knowledge and skills in proceeding the course that the student took. Though I know this might be hurtful for a student to hear, but it’s the truth and it’s good that there’s someone who can give an advice that we need to stop and think on trying other things. Rather than spending years in a degree that in the end we’ll just fail. For me, that’s a great thing to do by a teacher. She’s earning from that student but she choose to give an honest opinion and advice so that the student will be able to finish its studies well and work on something that she’ll be more successful at.

On my last semester, I have that moment where I’ve done what I need to do but I get nowhere, I keep on failing and falling again and again. I lost hope, they see me go down, my friends talked me out of it and cheer me up, encourage me to stand up again because they believe on me and what I can do. They see talent and skills in me in the field of programming that I can’t even see. So one time Ma’am Janet come to me and sat right beside me – on the floor – and said “What’s wrong Gay? What happened to you?”. I was speechless at first and want to cry because “someone cares!” I just told her that I was having a hard time and all, so she talked to me and said “let me see your paper so I could check what I can do.”

If Britney Spears is the person I look up to in music, it’s Ma’am Janet who I look up to in programming. For someone like her to help me out, I felt like I can die tomorrow. LOL. But really, she did help me and told me not to stop – because I was planning to stop there and surrender. She told me not to quit, I need some few adjustments, few work to be done and a mindset and I’m good to go. She even offered that she’ll be the one to schedule my defense to my instructor so that I would really make it to the defense and do my best.

In short, if it was not for her and of course my friends, I will not be able to have the degree that I have now, I would have failed my parents and myself. For someone who can say and tell me if I can do it or not, it's flattering that I could cry knowing that she believes that I can do it, that she can see that I have the power to end the fight and win in the end.

It's not that I didn't enjoy or that teachers hates me during high school, it was just that I was trying to make a distance between my advisers in high school because my siblings was under them too and I'm pressured of the expectations that I'll be like them - top of the class. But there was this adviser in high school that she liked me a lot, she liked me a lot that she wants me to be her brother's girlfriend. But her brother was shy and I'm not that into having relationships back then - study first! So nothing happened, we don't even get to talk because my adviser is already making a quiet giggle in the corner when her brother sat beside me.

Anyway, I think this post is too long already and hopefully I was able to share with everyone how important and how these teachers can help all of us, and how for me they become a hero.

To my teachers, advisers and instructors thank you for marking a part of my life, for the help, inspiration and unconditional love that you’ve shared with us, for the patience, support and care. May more people be more like you who could change the world through doing ordinary and heartfelt things.

To all the teachers in the Philippines and around the world, I in behalf of all the students would like to say thank you and have a wonderful life and a very happy teacher’s day!



P.S.

You might also like to read my blog post dedicated to teachers on my other blog:

A Teacher’s Guide to Social Media



Photo credit: Anna Fischer



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