Happy World Teacher's Day

During my sixth grade, something happened that has puzzled me over the years. Our Science teacher asked me to teach her 5th grade Science class. I am in the first section but I don't belong in the Top 10 of our class, though not because of my lack of trying (as usual, it was my Mathematics grade that pulled my grades down). So I was really surprised but proud of that distinction. I was asked twice to do this. Eight years later, I faced my first set of students as a newly Education graduate. I have become a Chemistry instructor and for 11 years, it has been my profession. 

Today, October 5, we are celebrating World Teacher's Day. Being a teacher is no easy task. It requires constant studying, diligence in preparing lesson plans and visual aids, meticulousness in checking and grading papers and projects, patience in classroom management, and much more. But teaching is also very rewarding. I am blessed to be compensated well for my job. (Of course, there a lot of teachers who are underpaid and my heart goes out to those unsung heroes.) More than the monetary compensation, happiness in teaching came in the forms of seeing students learn and understand your topic, their appreciation for your effort and guidance, and seeing them be successful in their chosen career. 

I am very grateful to all my teachers. Honestly, I don't remember all their names. Some of them, I admit, I don't have fond memories of. Of course, there are some that really made a tremendous impact on my life. Each and every one of them deserves to be thanked because one way or another, I have learned something from them. 

Looking back now with a humble heart, I am fully aware of my imperfections as a teacher. I have been too idealistic especially in my first years of my teaching. I know there were a lot of times I was not considerate of my students' situations and feelings; for that, I am very sorry. I have been so proud of my own knowledge and experience that I failed to see my students' need for a gentler approach in guidance; I hope you can forgive me for my failings. 

I don't know what my 6th grade Science teacher saw in me to even consider me for that task. She never explained her reasons and I was too shy to ask. After those two instances of teaching her 5th grade Science class, for years I did not give a thought to considering a career in the field of Education. If it wasn't for my unexpected scholarship that left me with only a few degrees to choose from, I would not have been in that path. But our Almighty God really does work in mysterious ways. 

It may have been His sign to me that I will be a teacher one day. It is maybe His way to prepare me for the challenges and joy I will encounter in my 11 years of teaching service. Or it is His plan to instill in me a calling to homeschool my little Queen B. Whatever His reasons are, I am grateful for the opportunity to share my knowledge to the thousands of students I must have taught. 

To all my fellow teachers, Happy Teacher's Day! May Titus 2: 7-8 guide each and every one of us in our profession: 

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 

Yours, 

Lady