“Teacher plants seeds of Knowledge that grows forever, till eternity”, and “Teaching is a noble profession that makes other professions possible”. Those were the quotes that stilled on my mind when I decided to take up Bachelor of Elementary Education and enjoyed to be on this course. Actually, to be a teacher is just my second dream, my second option. Too far from my dream profession of becoming a Nurse someday. How did I come up to this decision? Why did I choose to be a teacher? I don’t know why, but I guess there are some factors that led me to take this path to be a molder of hearts and minds of the young ones, our young generation. Maybe it’s because first, on my father’s side, there are a lot of teachers, including one of my cousins, two of my grandmothers, two of my aunties and one of my uncles. They are all teachers.. Secondly, is that I was really inspired on my former teachers during my elementary and high school days and the mother of my brother-in law, who used to be calling me always to check the test papers and record their scores, was a teacher also! What a funny coincidence! But I guess the most remarkable thing why I decided to take this “unveiling vocation” is that, I was inspired by our Lord Jesus Christ. He was our Great Father, a Great Provider and Healer, and of course, a Great Teacher.

            Since the time that I was involved in our church activities and fellowships (El Shaddai), and luckily, our youth coordinator there was a teacher, I was encouraged to teach our newly called members about some messages that Words of God want to imply to us and make us understand and be able to apply it to our daily living. Aside from that, I was also a choir leader before, wherein I was able to teach the notes, the tunes and the timings of each song that we sing, how we feel on this song and on how we give back the praises to our Lord. The time that I entered college, I was enrolled at Limay Polytechnic College way back 2007 until I graduated last 2011. I must say that my college years became the hiatus of my heydays and the peak season of my student life. Because I was able to showcase my talents and my dedication towards studying. Luckily, I was awarded before as Service Awardee and an artist of the Year.

            So now, I was luckily hired to be a public school teacher at Alasasin Elementary School wherein I am currently handling now SPED pupils with Intellectual Disabilities and Hearing Impairments. I guess to be a SPED Teacher is a great calling from God that I have to give my best and give them extra love, cae, attention and seek more the help of our Lord Jesus Christ to lead me on the right path and be able to handle my pupils and uplift their lives and be productive, good and responsible citizens of our society someday. Right now, I am having my Masteral Class Program held every Saturday wherein I was enrolled at Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology. I believe that by taking this Masters Degree, I can make myself more equipped, efficient and effective SPED Teacher by the next few years to come. So this is me, I am Rodolfo N. Ariola, Jr., a SPED Teacher, and I AM A TEACHER and THIS IS MY STORY.

 

By: Mr. Rodolfo N. Ariola Jr. | SPED Teacher I | Cabcaben Elementary School | Mariveles, Bataan