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Our Hideaway is a venue for the youth to express themselves and to share with our readers their mind, their heart and their soul.

 

Passion is the Key

by Stephen Virtudazo Tabal

 

 

The author teaches physics in Lanao del Norte National Comprehensive High School (LNNCHS), Baroy, Lanao del Norte.

 

‘Teaching is not a profession but a passion’, it has been said. I didn’t realize this until I was employed in a public high school. It is totally different from the schools where I used to teach. It seems like I’m in a parallel universe and I feel that I need a lot of adjustment to before I can teach well.

One day I assigned my students to bring candles for our optics activity in physics. Fortunately it went well and the students enjoyed it much. After the activity, a student named John (not his real name) approached me and said, ‘Sir, may I have the candles used in our activity?’ I paused for a while and asked, ‘Why?’ With head bowed down he answered, ‘I will use them to light our house so that I can work on my assignments’. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Up till then almost every person I met on the street had a smartphone and tablet. But there are still areas in our country left in the dark not because of blackouts but because of extreme poverty.

After a week the rainy season came and many of my students were absent. John came in five minutes late and wasn’t wearing his uniform so I approached him and he said, ‘Sorry, Sir. I had to remove my uniform because I was soaked but I can still put it back on. It’s in my bag. I wrapped it in cellophane.’

I was so amazed that he still managed to think of wearing the prescribed uniform rather than being concerned about his health and have no worries because, according to him, Jesus was with him in his long journey of about eight kilometers to school by foot.

Truly teaching is a passion but John made me realize what passion is all about. For him education is the key to uplifting his family financially and that he can rely not only on his own strength and intelligence but on God’s divine guidance and wisdom. John opened my eyes to see that passion is useless if teachers don’t have a life filled with love, joy and an acceptance like his of Jesus.


In the chapel of Father Saturnino Urios University, Butuan City.

John is now in third year college in a prestigious university under a scholarship program and his passion still lives on. He may not know it, but he taught me many things which I intend to pass on to others.

You may email the author at mr_phys12@yahoo.com