MRS. Rosalia Baylon, how to use the dictionary; Mr. Alberto Custodio, using several textbooks in preparing for a quiz bee; Mrs. Belhanda Beltran-Cerrero, using both sides of pad paper; Miss Amor Kagahastian, campus journalism and subjecting your own article to self-editing/polishing; and Mrs. Julieta Sosa-Alamo, how to believe in yourself and in what you can do. What varied things we learn from our teachers, and sometimes when we look back, we don’t remember any lesson at all – just the way they treated us.
I was not good in our second year Practical Arts subject, but my high school teacher never made me feel my limitations. She gave me the responsibility of checking the class attendance every meeting. She was quick to give me a word of praise even when I was no longer her student. She also invited me to a church activity where, for the first time as a student I was asked to speak before adults. She introduced me to psychology/self-help books. She listened to my personal concerns, too. I never had to ask. She exposed me not only to psychological, but spiritual teachings and activities as well. It took me decades to realize how her actions and the way she treated me helped boost my self-confidence. Ma’am Julie, how can one person make so much impact in another’s life?
I am what I am today because my teachers helped lay the foundation. I cannot mention all their names and all their good deeds in this column, but I want to thank all of them for their contribution to my development and their contribution to society in general.
I honor and thank them not just for the knowledge that they imparted and the talents that they helped nurture. I give so much importance on the fact that they were my confidence boosters when I was young. I chose to embrace the same role in the academe, and now as an inspirational author, columnist, and speaker.
(Marilyn Arayata: E-mail [email protected] the Hope Boosters page for posts that inspire and equip!)
(Marilyn C. Arayata)