I HAVE been told countless of times that it is so stupid to make a career out of teaching. It can never make one rich. The second proposition may be true, but the first one is certainly wrong. I have been a 'stubborn' teacher for eight years now.
Friends tell me, 'Church, you are wasting your talents! You are so promising in the corporate world, we could use you in here'; or 'Reality check, my friend, you are living in the world where money matters.' Just last month, my best friend told me 'Look at our former classmate, he was the dumbest in our class and he made it, how much more if you are in there!'
Friends, thank you for your faith in me. I know you care, but I chose a more fulfilling path. I hope you will be happy for me.
Yes, I'm a teacher, an ordinary high school teacher. My job is not financially rewarding, but my God, I would not trade it for the world! Let me tell you how I ended up in this paradise. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever plan to become a teacher. My father was grooming me to be the best lawyer in the world, I was all set to enter UP to pursue that dream but God?s ways are mysterious. My father was initially so bitter when I didn't take advantage of my UP scholarship slot to the point of even threatening to disown me. But he eventually respected and supported my decision. I stayed with the Missionary Society of St. Columban for five years. There I felt God's hands forming me and preparing me for something great.
When I left the society, I lost my sense of direction. I came to Cebu looking for a job. The easiest job I could think of then was teaching. For some reason I felt I was led to this path by some invisible force. I had no teaching experience, yet I was hired by a school known for excellence and prestige. Teaching was the greater plan God had for me. But I did not realize it at the start. Unlike some of the teachers who started with so much passion and ended up bitter, teaching was just a daily routine, until slowly I saw the paradise I was led into. I thought I was only teaching the insignificant details of how Magellan ended up dead in some shore in Mactan, but I was actually leading my students to wonder and wander. What was so amazing was that I also changed for the better in the process. My students' experiences, their erratic behaviors and mischiefs, their friendships and even their painful life stories taught me lessons in life and living.
Even if others 'look down' on me as an ordinary teacher, I'm not bothered for I believe that whatever little I share with my students help them to become better and more loving people, to be men and women for others.
For whatever it's worth, I'm so grateful to be part of the lives of my students. It is such a privilege to be given the opportunity to influence lives. After all, in my deathbed, it would not really matter anymore what kind of car I was driving or how big my house was.
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