Saturday, February 23, 2008

My Top Secrets Revealed

A friend recently asked me, “If you are not a teacher now, what do you think will be your profession?”

Now, it transported me into the world of deep musings…

Teaching was not my ambition in life. I always wanted to be a lawyer but got discouraged many times because as one of my sisters candidly put it, I’ll never win a case since I never won an argument with her.

So, how did I become a teacher?

Turning back my gaze to the past, I remember that I toyed with the idea of becoming a dancer… don’t react too soon.


I was in third grade when I was chosen to be one of the dancers in a number presented during the closing ceremony of the school year. I thought I was good enough in dancing only to find out later that my father talked to our teacher to include me if my sister would also be included to avoid sibling rivalry.

Well, had I known then I won’t be on stage making a fool of myself. My classmates told me though that I wasn’t really that bad, thanks for that.

That experience was never repeated except occasional field demonstration where everybody was required to dance and of course when I started teaching.

It might be hard to admit but finally after many years of dreaming I have accepted that dancing wasn’t just really for me considering my stiff body movement. (More of like a robot)

What about singing? Well, I did dream of being a singer too. But then again, I have observed that dogs started howling whenever I open my mouth to sing. Am I that bad really? It’s hard to tell because I became a member of the choir when I was in elementary and even competed when I was in high school.

We even won outside of school competitions. But, to be honest it was only that I didn’t open much my mouth so as not to let my teachers hear my voice because I wanted so bad to be part of the group. Luckily, the choir mentor in high school didn’t make a big fuss out of it because I was one of the top in class and I needed badly co-curricular activities.

My career in singing ended right there and then in high school. My colleagues cajoled and prodded me many times to sing during programs but I was old enough to realize that singing was not just really for me.

It’s that public speaking which I have tried since elementary that always popped out every now and then. I won a number of awards and even became a member of the college debate team.

However, even that I feel like I was not good enough. My confident is very strong when I don’t know the crowd but it dies out the moment I talk with familiar crowd.

So, I followed my sister’s advice to take up education with the hope of pursuing further education in law after I graduate.

Conversely, I enjoyed too much teaching that I have totally forgotten taking up degree in law. I’m thankful though. I know that it’s not meant for me and it wasn’t my calling.

My past experiences molded me to what I am now. I can’t dance but I can supervise practices of my pupils in dancing. I can’t sing but I can sing enough to amuse them during classroom discussion. I can’t argue but I can explain things enough for my pupils to understand daily lessons.

You see, it doesn’t really matter what my dreams were before. What matters now is that I have found my right calling. Oh, I forgot…I was never good in writing. I never won a single award back when I was still studying and it was my greatest frustration.

The path I have trekked maybe brought me where am I now because I no longer remain frustrated. I never won an award so that I would push through to be better. I didn’t become a great writer but I did become a winning coach of great writers.

Need I say more? I have found my perfect profession. Maybe I won’t be a teacher forever but I know that I would forever be thankful that once in my life I became one… 

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11 comments:

  1. This is a very nice post. It's things like these that should be shared with as many people as possible. It touches the soul deep down. It's something worth pondering. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    I'll be subscribing. I'll also try to visit, comment and click anything that arouses my interest, ;). Keep up the good work and keep on blogging.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, again. I tried subscribing to your feed but it seems you don't have any kind of RSS or ATOM feeds. Your visitors would surely appreciate it if you have an RSS feed. It would be easier for us to read your posts. Anyway, I'll just be visiting on a regular basis. More power to you and your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 03, 2008

    Any person of your profession like me must be grateful for this heartfelt piece. Inspiring. I maybe weak at writing but, I could discern how impeccable your work is.

    Sincerely,
    Unofre

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    as a person struggling with different realities and different professions I find your piece very inspiring.

    It's wonderful to discover what you are good at and even if your previous ambitions weren't fully realised, in one way you should think that this is the path you were meant to follow.

    It's a growing process, we are always a working in progress, no matter how much we think we have achieved or how happy we are with our present work: there 'll be another day, another you, wanting to go further, just a bit more.. Thanks for sharing this with us, FX

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    I'm apritty good writer but I must confess I can't spell to save my neck

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    Well, I went to music college to excel in playing the piano, with all the usual big dreams of youth, and yes, I have done a lot of teaching in 15 years after. I think my main trap is to focus on teaching full time, rather than to focus on performance and some teaching. It is easy over time to lose sight of just where your talents lie.

    My encouragement to all is: dream big, plan big, be big! Never be afraid to jump out of your rut and start a new one! zowoco xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    What a nice article..

    Thank you for sharing with us.

    Lonely.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    I am thinking you are a wonderful teacher and your students are grateful! I hope whatever path you take that your honesty stays with you, it's an admirable trait! Wonderful article

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    ang lalalim niyo mga tiyong at tiyang,
    thanks for the wonderful read

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMay 06, 2008

    Any person of your profession like me must be grateful for this heartfelt piece. Inspiring. I maybe weak at writing but, I could discern how impeccable your work is.

    Sincerely,
    Unofre

    ReplyDelete

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