Why I Wanted to Become a Teacher

I can still remember the details of the conversation that my father and I had that day. 

I was being scolded for placing “Bachelor of Secondary Education” in a college entrance test application form.  Again.  Daddy just couldn’t believe that of all the courses that I could apply to in the three universities that I took a test in, Secondary Education would be what I wanted three times over. 

He told me that I was way too smart to be a teacher and that I could actually be a chemical engineer, a business administrator, or an accountant if I would only set my heart into studying to be any one of them.

To this I said, “Kawawa naman ang mga batang Pilipino kung panay ang magtuturo ay ‘yung hindi matatalino (How pathetic Filipino children will be if all those who would teach are dim-witted).

He could never win.

It wasn’t long before I learned that I passed all three entrance tests I took and soon enough, I was wandering in the hallways of the College of Education in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.  My Dad, on the other hand, found himself answering people’s queries about why I chose Education of all courses with: “Kawawa naman daw kasi ang mga batang Pilipino (Filipino children are pitiful she said).”

And the rest, as they say, was history. 

Initially, I was chided by many because of my choice.  There’s my all-time favorite “Titser lang (Just a Teacher)” comment, the “Walang yumayaman sa pagtuturo (Nobody gets rich with teaching)” remark, and the “Hindi ka naman mahilig sa bata (You don’t like kids)” challenge or discouragement, depending on how you look at things.  Good thing I was headstrong and soon I got my bachelor’s degree.

To date, I’ve taught in five schools (the last of which was UP Integrated School), handled more than 20 subjects, and facilitated learning for over a thousand students from primary to postgraduate levels.  I’ve been to Davao three times to teach effective and correct English to public elementary school teachers in Mindanao.  I’ve written my own Afro-Asian Literature textbook.  I’ve been the guest of honor in my elementary school’s Recognition Day in 2008.  I’ve heard students marry, have their own children, go to law school, or simply work as teachers themselves.  All of these in just more or less six years of my life as a teacher in the Philippines.