“Study hard because that is the only thing we can give you despite financial constraints. We will do our best to send you to college so you can be great help to your brother and sister” – words from my beloved father that serve as my strength and inspiration to pursue my goals. I have worked for two years to save money for my education. Until God graces me to take up Bachelor in Secondary Education major in Filipino at Republic Colleges, Albay in 1995. With all glory, I earned my degreeand received the Academic Award as “Cum Laude”. It was followed by acquiring my professional license upon passing the Licensure Exam.

            However, the greatest part of it is yet to come. As I become a full-pledge teacher I have seen my career’s toughest part. I have discovered things beyond the theories and principles of teaching. To sum it up, I would say that being a teacher is CHALLENGING. It demands me not only to submit LPs and report on time. Also, it dares to make the most out of all the faculties I have. 15 years of being in the  profession enable me gain multiple experience that shaped the teacher I am today. I have learned to treat all sorts of students… Those who are stubborn, those who eager to learn… those who cannot cope with the lessons. And I realized that as I prepare them to change, I am also changing because of them. With all the contest we joined and we won, I have felt how happier I can get whenever I see them ace the competition. With all the encampments we participated in, I have seen the wonderful connections a teacher can create by establishing friendship with his/her students. Thus the certificate I have gathered will not only determined how dedicated I am in my chosen field, but each certificate will forever reminds me of every experience I have shared with my students which those competitions, trainings, trips and encampments have provide.

            Perhaps no teacher would say that teaching is an easy job. But we have to admit how rewarding it is to be a teacher… that the compensation we get more than our salary is the fact that we are instruments in changing lives. And that we play an important part in making our students successful in choosing the right track.

            I am proud that I am a TEACHER … and that was my Story…..

 

By: JOEY R. CABRERA | Master Teacher I | Pagalanggang National High School