A Teacher’s Worth
September 6, 2008 by hames1977
The world is one big classroom, I must say. And we are all the students learning how to figure out life’s great lessons. Just as we are looking at that big greenboard of countless possibilities of reading, of thinking, of testing ideas, of talking and of course, communicating.
We all sit there in our own chairs and desks doing what is required by our society. Taking up life roles quite unique to us and doing what is expected of us to do. And the challenge, is for us to contribute. To open up. To understand. To question. To clarify. To accept. To be better.
And like most of the students, we have varied approaches to learning. Some diligent, some irresponsible, some bookish, some drifters, some enthusiasts etc. Same as true as how we do in our lives. No one in the class can contend who did well or who did not, but only the teacher, who had the lesson plan. The teacher who has the pen to write down the grades. The teacher who is in the front like a mighty warrior quelling ignorance among us.
They say, a teacher is a great influence to your well-being, second to your parents. If the teacher has inspired you, there you’ll get inspired. If the teacher has empowered you, then you’ll be of power. And if the teacher make you see wider than you are used to, I bet, you will go a long way than you could ever imagine.
And the success of the teacher is not on how many doctors, lawyers, CEO’s and government officials they had produced. But teachers who produce another set of responsible teachers and mentors in other fields enriching and nourishing. The workplace. The community. The church. The government. The society.
Even after university life, we all have mentors in our workplaces. We have elders in our churches to encourage us. We have community leaders who prod us to be responsible. We have fathers and mothers, whose voices are still relevant. In this life, no one survives on his own. We need teachers, who can tell us the difference between right and wrong. We need teachers, who had a definite view of what is acceptable or not. We need teachers, who have a strong moral ethic and can’t be compromised.
That is the worth of a teacher. That was how their profession is simply the noblest. You might say, that it seems like forever their turf is in the classroom. Staying there as long as they have the energy to teach. But can you imagine, how their ideals travelled the world, among their students? Can you imagine how the society at large being built by their minds among the movers and shakers of this generation?
The world may boast of its many achievements. But these rest upon the shoulders of the teachers whose influence help shape it. The teacher whose idea fire an imagination. The teacher whose life becomes a beacon of hope between the present and the future.
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Posted in Current Affairs, Essay, Memoirs, Philosophy, Prose, Relationships, Social Commentary, Society | Tagged beacon, chairs, church, classroom, desks, drifters, energy, Essay, ethic, fathers, fire, future, generation, government, hope, ideals, imagination, lessons, life, mentors, mothers, movers, parents, power, present, profession, Prose, shakers, Society, teacher, university, view, warrior, workplace, world | 1 Comment
Marvin,
Last August, I sent the best teacher I had a birthday greeting. He is not the traditional teacher we met in a classroom, he is a mentor I met inan unplanned job interview that eventually became my superior as the Managing Director of the company I was employed before. I would like to share with you an excerpt from that letter:
————
Sir Edward,
Greetings from Chicago!
I’m not really sure if this is still your email address, but I would like to try to send you my Birthday greetings anyway.
Yes, I will always remember, your birthday comes 14 days after I celebrate mine, that is why I will never forget.
I was 22, a picture of defeat, a failure and broken when you gave me your time generously in that incidental job interview which changed the way I look at myself.
Where ever I go, I always hold on to it and would always look back to the time when you saved my shattered self esteem and put them back together with your encouraging words.
For the simple reason that you once rescued a bird with broken wings and helped him to learn to fly again, this greeting is my simple way of sending you signal that he has arrived.
I am forever grateful. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sir Edward!
———
I grew up in an environment surrounded by teachers – my father is a professor in a state university and part of his benefits is a free housing inside the campus. So my formative years were literally spent in an academe. But when you are overly exposed, the more it is harder – that kind of life. My father was a professor but he’s not my greatest influence, in fact he was the strongest force that blocked me.
Sir Edward was sent by God just in time when I was examining my worth as a person and I gave myself a very low rate. At that point, I don’t believe in anything, not even myself anymore – but here comes this one person who gave it back to me. Sir Edward is a picture of a young achiever. A managing director of a big company at 34, self-made, his success is radiant and infectious and a few minutes with him in a job interview left me infected with an attitude I carry since.
Here is his reply to my letter:
————–
Jeques,
Never did I doubt your capability especially whenyou’re highly motivated. I am sure that it’s a matter of time before youcan find yourself.
You are enjoying the best of both worlds. A career that you like and the time to hone your God-given talents. I checked your web site and was quite amazed with your work. Keep it up.
And may God continue to bless and guide you.I wish all the best and God’s abundant blessings!
—————
There are people in our life that put us back to the right paths when we stray. Sir Edward believed in what I could do more than I believe myself then. It is a blessing that we keep in touch. I lost communication with him when I left the Philippines, but now our lines are back. I resigned from the company he manage in 1998, but we contenue to have open lines years after that and until now. He now owns a company.
In all these, I thought God find His way to send us the right hands to mold us to become the best that he intends us of becoming: teachers, mentors are the hands He use and God leaves us his fingerprints all over us as he allows these hands to mold us.
I wish you well.
~ Jeques