“Ang Kabataan sa Harap ng Pag-usbong ng Teknolohiya

at Demoralisasyon sa Mundo”

Kasabay ng di mapigil na modernisasyon ng mundo ay ang lumalawak na kaisipan at pananaw ng mga tao, lalong-lalo na ng mga kabataan, sa mga bagay-bagay. Mula sa pagiging simple ay natututo ang bawat isa na maging radikal. Kung dati ay kuntento tayo sa pagiging tayo ngayon ay natututo tayong maging mapaghanap. Kung dati ay ayos na tayo sa pasobre sobre ngayon ay parang di tayo mabubuhay kapag wala tayong “cellphone”. Kung dati ayos na ang radyo ngayon ay halos mamatay ang isang kabataan mabilan lang ng sarili niyang “i-pod”. Sa totoo lang, ang mga bagay na ito ay hindi maiiwasan at hindi natin maikakaila na mayroon itong mga dalang kabutihan. May mga ibang kabataang ginagamit ang pagbabago ng panahon upang maging mabuti at maunlad ang kanilang sarili, ngunit sa totoo lang, sa patuloy na pag-usbong ng teknolohiya hindi natin maikakaila na may mga iba na imbes na nagbabago ay patuloy na nasasadlak sa kasamaan at demoralisasyon. Ang tanong na naiiwan ay, “ano ba ang kabataan ngayon sa mundo ng teknolohiya?”

Bilang isang batang guro, nakakalungkot isipin na may ilang mga kabataang tila nakalimot na. Ang iba ni hindi na magawang makinig sa kanilang mga magulang dahil masyadong abala sa ka-text. May mga iba, di na yata alam ang salitang “po” at “opo.”

Kung minsan kahit na ang mga maliliit at mga simpleng bagay ay tila nakalimutan na ng ilan. Nakakalungkot isipin na dahil sa pagbabago ng panahon ay naapektuhan na nito ang mura at sariwang kaisipan ng ating kabataan. Masakit mang aminin ngunit ang kabataan ngayon ay papunta sa tinatawag na demoralisasyon. Nasisira ang kanilang mga murang pananaw dahil sa di maawat na impluwensya ng teknolohiya at modernisasyon. Kung minsan nga, ang bata nakakalimot narin magsabi ng “good morning teacher”, “goodbye teacher”, “thank you Ma’am.” Ang paglimot ng kabataan sa mga simpleng bagay na ito ay dala na rin ng kanilang mas lumalawak na mga kaalaman sa mga bagay bagay ngunit mas kumikitid na pananaw sa kung ano ang tama at sa kung ano ang mali. Kung minsan nga, naitatanong ko sa aking sarili, “saan ba ako nagkamali sa mga batang ito?” “ano pa ba ang dapat kong gawin para maintindihan nila ang halaga ng buhay?” Pilit ko mang halukayin sa aking isip ay di ko talaga mahagilap ang sagot, at sa huli ay babagsak ako sa katotohanang, “iba na talaga ang mundo ngayon.”

        Alam ko sa aking sarili na hindi ko maiiwasan ang pagbabago. Ika nga ng isang tanyag na pilosopo, “Ang lahat ay nagbabago. Walang permanente sa mundong ito kundi ang pagbabago mismo.” Ngunit naniniwala parin ako na bawat tao ay kayang magdesisyon para sa kanyang sarili. Hindi man maiiwasan ang pagbabago ng panahon naniniwala parin ako na ang kabataan ay may kakayahang maging magiting sa pagsasabuhay ng kanyang pagiging tao. Harapin man ng ilang pagbabago, ang kabataan ay may angking galing sa pagpapakabuti at pagsasaayos ng kanyang buhay. Dapat lang maintindihan ng isang kabataan ang tunay na kahulugan ng katalinihan at kagitingan---na ang katalinuhan ay di lamang napupulot sa pagkakaroon ng matataas na grado sa eskwela ngunit higit sa lahat ay sa kung paano niya isabuhay at isagawa ang kanyang mga natutunan sa loob ng klase. Ang kagitingan ay nakikita sa matapang na pagdedesisyon upang maging mabuti at mahusay. Maganda ang bawat pagbabago ngunit huwag sana nating kakalimutan na ang lahat ng bagay ay may kaakibat na kapalit. Kaya ang tanong, “Para saan ang pagbabago mo?, Tungo sa mabuti? O tungo sa patuloy na pagkasadlak sa kasamaan o imoralidad?”

---Teacher Jun---

“A Part of a Greater Reality”

(A Reflection Essay about being a Teacher)

To be honest, when I was still a kid, I never dreamed of becoming a teacher someday. Rather, it was my ultimate dream to become a soldier. I want to fly planes and to do some acrobatic movements in the air using high caliber and high flying fighting aircrafts. However, it was God who directed my way in this reality of being a teacher---a person who does the talking, lecturing, scolding and many other –ING things inside a classroom.

In the beginning, I was very afraid. I did not know what to do. I did not even know how to start. It was all question marks and self-doubts because I don’t even have the right degree to become a certified teacher. As time passes by, I learned the basics: lesson planning, tallying of grades, managing classrooms, working ethics and others. I thought it was all about those things, BUT I WAS WRONG. As I go on, I’m starting to realize the true essence of being a teacher. Firstly, I realized that being a teacher is going beyond the realm of the basics. Personally, I found out that being a teacher is not only about lesson planning, discussing, lecturing and others, moreover, it is a kind of vocation, a calling. It is a calling to be a part of a greater reality in the lives of your students. I realized that being a teacher is also about inspiring others to become better people someday. Being a teacher is not only about teaching but most especially it is also about learning. As part of this growth, I should say that I am really learning by my experiences and my students’ experiences. Being a teacher is also being transformed to be a better agent of renewal. I must admit that my students taught me to become more patient, to be more understandable, and to be more of a critical thinker. My students taught me how to have a heart. Secondly, I realized that being a teacher is learning to be with the joys and sufferings of your students. To be a teacher is being with your students through pains and happiness, through thick and thin, and through ups and downs of their lives. As a teacher, I learned a very important lesson---never abandon your students. I realized the meaning of the word love---that love is learning to accept the realities within one’s life, especially with the lives of your students. Lastly, as a neophyte teacher I learned how to be strong. There are moments in which my strengths are being tested. From honest to goodness, classroom management 101 says, “never cry in-front of your students.” However, I must admit that I am one of those teachers who already broke this lesson. Indeed, I just realized that crying is not merely showing that you are weak. Sometimes, it is just a proof enough that you are capable of accepting the realities of your vocation as a teacher. Being strong doesn’t mean being terror; but being strong entails your capability to touch the lives and hearts of your students for them to be greater persons someday.

In the end, I should say that being a teacher is not that easy. But, it is really a worth fulfilling mission. I think God is really good because He knows how to direct His creatures. Just like a shepherd to His flock, God showed me a greater way of not only expressing myself but most especially influencing and inspiring others. I may not be a perfect teacher, but I can say that I AM HAPPY and FULFILLED BEING A TEACHER. I am happy being a part of a greater reality in the lives of my every student.

---Teacher Jun---

The Art of Letting Go: A Reflective Paper about Love in the Light of St. Augustine’s Philosophy on the Role of Love

According to St. Augustine, “We inevitably love. To love is to go beyond ourselves and to fasten our affection upon an object of love.”  Obviously, love seems to be the greatest thing that may happen to a person. Everything seems to be a magic if we are in-love. Bitter days turn out to be the sweetest ones because of that person who gives us so much happiness and fulfillment. In other words, because of that person who somehow or truly fulfills the emptiness of our hearts and gives a sense of color to our vague existence, we learn how to smile even through the toughest moments of our lives. “It is our incompleteness that prompts us to love” (Stumpf, 2005). However, there are times in which our love is being tested. There are things that require so much understanding and so much sacrifice in order to have a better concept of what love is. At the end, the question that remains is that, “how much sacrifice can we take for the sake of that person whom we love so much?”

As the adviser of the fourth year class, I always witness my students being troubled with their emotions towards their romantic relationships. I must admit that at this stage, it is a normal feeling. In as such, by their experiences on love, I learned the value of letting go. It is indeed a reality that letting go of someone we love is one of the most painful things to do. However, I learned that letting go of someone we love does not mean having less love, rather, it is having a more and a deeper love for her. St. Augustine expressed his words on love by saying, “love is not selfish.” Firstly, letting go means having a greater love that we want that person to be happy and to live her life the way she want it to be. I believe that if we will hold on to that person who does not feel the same feeling for us, it is not love then, it is a kind of selfishness, an attitude anchored on self-gratification and self-interest. Selfishness is not love. We must learn to let go of someone if we really love her, for love is not a one-way feeling. It must always be a two-way process, meaning, the feeling must be mutual.  Secondly, I learned that letting go is giving yourself a chance. Definitely, there is this great tendency of forgetting ourselves for the sake of that person whom we love so much. Sometimes, even if we are being hurt, we still feel the great love to that person who gave us so much pain. Sometimes, I must believe that love is truly unfair. But, letting go of her is letting ourselves to breath from that miserable feeling of being hurt, of being taken for granted, of being unloved. Letting go of her is loving ourselves so that if time comes, we can still give love to its right object. “We cannot give love if and then we did not experience love at all” (Moga, 2005). It is a way of letting ourselves and giving it a chance to be happy. Lastly, I realized that letting go is experiencing true love. To be honest, there was also a time when I experienced being broken into pieces because of a certain lady whom I really love so much. I was very hurt and the process of moving on was never that easy. There were sleepless nights and countless tears fell from my eyes. I remember myself not eating for how many meals because of too much loneliness and too much depression. There were many times I tried to ask her to be back but the rest were history of more hurtful scenarios. But, one day I woke up telling to myself, “if you really love her, then let her be.” I know that this will never be easy but if I will not do this then I will be her greatest persecutor because admit it or not, she wanted to be free from my feelings for her. In the mere sense, she does not love me. From these experiences, I learned that I know how to love truly for I know how to let go. Loving someone is not possessing her. Most of the times, true love can be seen by the much sacrifice you can make for her to be happy even if it cause so much troubles in your heart. Experiencing true love is letting go of her for a much greater purpose for her sake. It is all about accepting the realities that this special feeling may offer.

In the end, I may say that love has always its right time. Two hearts that situated in a wrong time and wrong circumstance today may be blessed with a chance in the future. Love surpasses time and circumstance. For now, letting go is the best remedy for us to know and to realize better the true meaning of love. Love does not persecutes, it cares. Love does not eternally possessive, it seeks to understand the value of freedom as a greater sense of love. As we always say, “true love waits.” Not now, maybe some other time when things are in their right circumstances.