Aaahhh, teachers. While we were traumatized by those who exhibited dark triad traits, we owe many of our successes to competent, dedicated educators. They went beyond their duties to equip us with crucial knowledge, skills, and attitudes that transcend the syllabus despite their shortcomings.
In Philippine cinema, Ms. Casas of the film Pisay epitomizes that noble teacher. Her upper half-lower half segregation scheme was cruel. I also believe that her constant hammering of students to work hard without giving them a deep source of motivation for it will either create arrogant, self-centered students or discouraged ones who don’t aspire for great things. Still, this fictional teacher is a superb educator. One reason why she’s great is because she inculcated in her students that they are individuals with agency, not helpless victims of so-called privileged groups. So what does Ms. Casas believe? How will they help us in our lifelong learning journey?
“Each person has his own orbit. If we stay in them, we’re in equilibrium. If we gravitate elsewhere, there’s chaos!”
In the movie, Ms. Casas confronted Philippine Science High School (“Pisay”) student Roman Meneses about how his dating relationship was ruining his grades. Roman insisted that her girlfriend was an inspiration, not a distraction. She was indeed distracting him no matter how nice she was. Throughout our lives, we’ll encounter decent people --- even people better than us in many ways --- who will hinder us from fulfilling our calling. What’s deceptive is that these good people will distract us from our priorities for reasons that will make us mediocre though they may not be downright evil. It could be a church mate who’s constantly dragging us to all sorts of ministry activities even if we have exams. That might be a relative who assures us that a BA in Gender Studies from Babuyan Islands University is equal to an engineering degree. Or maybe it’s a romantic partner! That person could be taking up so much of our time even if marriage is not yet on the table. Although these people might mean well, we should set strong boundaries with them so we can focus on honing skills that we can use to serve others better.
“Kung ano ang gusto niyong sabihin, ‘yun ang dapat niyong patunayan.” (“You must present proof for your claims.”)
In the real world, the market rewards skills that produce products and services that consumers are willing to pay for. Good luck putting food on the table if all you can do is pontificate about asinine rules that you want the state to impose on everyone. Or about how oppressed you are --- while you sip Starbucks coffee and tweet from your iPhone 12. Some colleges actually specialize in churning out low-skilled graduates like that. What's worse is that they will hurt the people who they supposedly want to help once they legislate their hatred.
“Sa tanda kong ito, marami nang mas mahalaga kaysa sa PhD.” (“At my age, there are things far more important than a PhD.”)
I love the context in which Ms. Casas said this. The Pisay principal was looking at the collage of alumni’s photos in Ms. Casas’ office. The principal then remarked that she couldn’t remember a certain alumna who was in a picture. Ms. Casas replied by bragging that the Pisay honorable mention in the photo was finishing her doctoral degree in the US. The principal suggested that Ms. Casas take the next year off so that she too could finish her own dissertation. Ms. Casas refused, saying that caring for students was more important for her than getting a PhD. Going to graduate school does lead to opportunities that are unavailable to those who only have bachelor’s degrees. But it also closes doors that might be better routes to success. Perhaps certifications are the more practical option for you. In fact, many therapists who only took certificate courses receive more referrals than those who have advanced degrees. That’s because they have skills that clients want (note: the keyword is “want” and not necessarily “need”, but that’s a different topic all together). Not everything that you’ll learn in grad school has real-world application, honestly. Regardless of the road that you’ll take, remember that what matters more than the credential is how you can leverage it to serve others.
(Photo from Canva)
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