September 28 is Confucius Day, also the day we thank teachers for shaping us. This is a late post, I know, close to a month late but then again, it's always better late than never, right?
Looking back, I wasn't the perfect student. Prior to elementary school, I was an overly hyper kid who loves running around the school. Then as now, I am forgetful. One time I forgot to show my parents an exam (in which I got a high score) and came to class with no parent's signature on my paper. My teacher, Mrs. Chua, hit my hand with a stick. I thought it would hurt but it didn't. So I blurted out, "Doesn't hurt at all!" Now don't get me wrong, I love this teacher. She's very dear to me, mainly because I can feel that she really loves us, her students. I feel honored whenever she would ask me to run errands for her. When I learned that she passed away years later, I was deeply saddened.
In elementary school, I don't know if my teachers love me or hate me. To them, I am still that hyper kid. But then again, they are amazed because I did well in class. When I transferred to another school, I met one of the kindest Science teacher I ever had. I was in 4th grade then and she was the reason why I was exposed to school competitions early on. She saw in me what other teachers didn't--- my thirst for knowledge. I think part of the reason for that is because I was always seen with a pocketbook in hand. My recess time was spent in the library returning and borrowing books.
Also in elementary school, a Math teacher believed in me and encouraged me to attend MTAP sessions. I was surprised because I didn't get high grades in class because I always copied the wrong givens from the board. But even though she marked my answers wrong and didn't give consideration for correct way of solving, perhaps she knew that I was capable of higher level math at an early age.
High school perhaps is one of my most colorful phase. I met my favorite History teacher during my first year. She was ever so charming and very intelligent that at that time in my life, I found myself crushing on a woman. She got me interested in history, heck she was the reason why I started to read newspapers everyday and continued the habit to this day. I could still remember being the only one in class to get a bonus point in relation to current events because of an article I read in PDI a few days before the exam. I also cannot forget how she reminded us to always be respectful and to always be responsible for our actions. After one year of being her student, she left the school. A year after, I wrote to her, yes it was wise to ask for her address, just to thank her for everything and to say how I miss her. I did not expect her to reply but she did. It was a very special moment for me, when I tore open the envelope and read her letter.
It was also during my freshman year in highschool that Math became my favorite subject. My teacher was funny and outgoing and I like that in her. The following year, she became our class adviser and it was at that time when I discovered my love for logic. Proving and geometry, which many students in our school dread, were my favorite subjects. These subjects make me feel smart. It wouldn't have been possible if my teacher were boring.
My Chinese teacher at this time was a soft-spoken woman who hardly gets angry. I slept in class, chatted during lectures, came in late a lot, and did several things a student shouldn't do while in class, but she was ever patient with me. It was only a year after that I realized how unfair I was to her so I made up to her by chatting with her, visiting her in the faculty room, and telling her how I became interested in 紅樓夢, which probably delighted her because not many Chinese-Filipino would want to read a Chinese classic. She once picked my Chinese essay and read it in front of the class. It was a review I made for a Chinese movie about the Sulu chieftain's visit to Mainland China. She said she liked my insights, especially my focus on two foreign cultures' diplomacy. At that time, I was super embarrassed when she read every word I wrote in front of the class. But now I feel a sense of pride at having written an essay in Chinese even though I am not from China.
On my third year, I was inspired by my Chemistry teacher, who graduated from UP and had radical ideas. At that time, I vehemently opposed his ideas as I was pretty conservative then. Years later, I would discover where he was coming from and understood the validity of his views. He probably is the one who first sowed the seeds of defiance in me, but in a good way. In that same year, I fell in love with Math all over again when we were taught algebra. It helped a lot, too, that our Math teacher is a young bubbly woman who herself is also a graduate of UPD. Years later we would hear that she and our Chemistry teacher got married to each other. Wow!
That same school year, I was lucky to have a really really bright English teacher who truly loves to read and not just teach about grammar. My Chinese teacher during this time was also very dear to me. Like my first year Chinese teacher, she was soft-spoken and patient. The one thing I like more about her is that she can be funny at times. Like my precious Chinese teacher, she liked my writing style. She said that I write from the heart, that she liked the honesty of my essays because they truly show how human I am--- prone to anger, jealousy, and excessive desires.
My last year in high school opened my eyes to politics in the academe. Because of my acts of defiance, I was often called to the administrative office to be reprimanded. At that time, I would have been broken to pieces were it not for my teachers in Math and Computer who talked to me a lot and who, while siding with me, did not tolerate my disrespectful attitude. In a way, I am grateful to them for also helping shape my character. Not only that, they were the ones who truly got me to appreciate mathematical abstractions and logic. Looking back, I am touched at how lucky I was to have been their student. My Math teacher was proud of me especially when I was the only one in the whole batch to get the answers right because some problems were not discussed and one really has to use one's head to arrive at a solution. My computer teacher encouraged me to pursue computer studies because according to him, it would be such a waste to have a logical mind and not apply it. At that time, he learned of my course choice in Ateneo: English Literature. Still he told me that whatever happens, I must follow my heart, which is a cliché but then when it comes to someone whom you respect, it becomes all the more a valuable advice.
It's because of these people that I was ready to enter UP for my college education. In UP, I met the brightest teachers, most of them terror ones, but there are also those whose kindness never fail to touch me. I am also lucky to have encountered only one Monster Teacher. Still, I would tell myself, if I hadn't encountered her, I wouldn't be this strong now.
