THE REWARDS OF TEACHING

MARIA AURORA C. ARCEO

It’s not the material things that matters most in teaching, not the perks that the teachers get as incentives and definitely not the presents they receive during Teacher’s Day. It must be something deeper… something intangible that they hold dear in their hearts… something more precious than gold and silver… something priceless that money cannot offer.

It must be the fulfillment of the teacher’s compassion and passion to teach. It must be the joy of knowing that your former student is now a doctor, an attorney, an engineer, an architect, a manager, a pilot, a businessman, a nurse, a teacher, a seaman, a stewardess, an OFW, a senator, a congressman, a governor, a mayor, a councilor, a superintendent, a chief of staff… or even a President! There is no overwhelming bliss for a teacher to have molded the innocent minds of these personalities into vessels of unsatiable knowledge, wisdom and genuine service.

It gives me an unparalleled sense of achievement whenever I remember the US phone call I received from a former student of mine in Saudi Arabia. He was so grateful that I have taught him English and was ecstatic to inform me that he was already a physician and he insistently invited me to come over to America for his wedding. Much to my desire to attend the said event, I jokingly told him it would be of great pleasure if he would send the ticket since I already had the US Visa. But kidding aside, that student of mine would never know how overjoyed I was to be remembered all these years, how he appreciated and recognized my efforts for teaching him and how much impact I made in his life.

This empirical incident may be one of the many rewards of teaching any teacher could ever reckon with. Now is the time to reflect and reminisce how you touched your students’lives. Go down memory lane and see the fruits of your labor, the knowledge and realization of what your students have become… these and so much more are the eminent rewards of teaching.

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The author is Teacher II/ OIC-TLE Department Head at Sindalan High School