It was often said and heard in the baccalaureate course for teachers that “Teachers don’t get rich.” and that “There’s no money in teaching.”
Such old cliché among teachers might be true. Proof to these would be that there are teachers who retire with all their retirement pay and all and still couldn’t afford to tour in places they have yet been and who have not been able to make big renovations in their homes despite the many years of serving the education system.
Teachers do not really get rich in monetary terms but at least, teachers can be rich in other aspects – like self-fulfilment.
And just how is this so?
Though we may see many teachers who are often in Loandon or in lending institutions waiting for their turn to hand in their loan applications, we can find so many sons and daughters of teachers who were able to graduate in colleges and universities despite the meagre income of the teacher-mother or teacher-father.
Teacher-parents are satisfied once they see their children graduate from any degree whether professional or vocational, at least they have been able to send them to school and graduate even if their payslips might be full of deductions for their loans.
It would also be self-fulfilling once we see our old pupils and students who still remember us despite the passing of years. There are those who would just hand in to the driver your bus or jeep fare and would tell you, “Ma’am may bayad na po kayo.” (Sometimes teachers do not even remember the person’s name, but that person still remembers, Ma’am.) We don’t just get fulfilled because they paid for our fare but the thought that they still remember to care for you or to show you respect is already fulfilling enough.
There are those former pupils who would even tell stories and experiences about you to their children of the newer generation and would still have high praises for the work you have done for them.
Such simple ways can already make a simple teacher very happy and fulfilled. After all, true fulfilment does not only come from money. There are still a lot happiness in the world that money cannot buy and provide.
By: Maricar S. Gerella | Abucay North Elementary School | Abucay, Bataan
