By Zach Cruz and Aliya Janeo

Behind every educator is a student who has become their number one role model, or the one they never had.

We all strive to make an impact in this world, and for our educators, supporting their pupils is enough for them. As students, we sometimes only see as far as our own shared experiences: packed schedules, immense workloads, and opinions on our teachers. However, behind these lenses of stress and frustration are people who have gone through the same and more. After all, they were once students just like us. 

A Formator’s Perspective

A teacher is more than just their students. They’re their own person with lives outside the campus and are like any average person; they’re spouses, children, parents, and humans. What makes a difference is their influence on other people’s lives—our lives. They’re the people who, no matter how tired we are, will still find ways to teach us new things. 

They’re our motivators who know how to push us to our limits to reach our full potential. 

Then again, our teachers are also their own self-made stories. If they’re our coaches, cheering for us every step of the way, they need their sources of joy and life. They also require an extra push to make it through every day and prepare for the next. It’s a no-brainer that teaching isn’t an easy profession and will test any educator to find the light at the end of the tunnel. 

To quote Grade 11 Media Information and Literacy teacher Sir Trix Yumul: “At first, it was because I wanted to be the teacher who would make an impact in a bullied kid’s life the same way that some of my teachers had been quite influential in mine. I wanted to be the teacher who [would] be there to stand by them, to cheer them on, to assure them that everything was gonna be alright somehow.

Now that I’m about to hit the 1-year mark, I’ve fallen in love even more deeply with the profession. I’ve now made it my life’s mission not just to be the teacher who cares for his students but also, just as importantly, the teacher who does his best to inspire his students to care about the world around them and do something about it in their own small ways.”

Our teachers are a one-way ticket to the future of our generation and the next to come. With their life lessons and knowledge, they play a role in how we see the world and think of those around us. They’re fundamental in forming our ideals—the leaders creating leaders. To be a leader means to not look at situations through rose-tinted glasses and to see the world for how it is: full of challenges. 

If there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it is something rewarding—it’s not something that isn’t earned. As mentioned, teaching is not for the faint of heart. It isn’t a career to choose for someone who isn’t willing to sign up for a rollercoaster of ups and downs, whether it’s the rowdy classes, delayed schedules, late submissions, or even factors from their personal lives—teachers, like us students, power through demanding situations.

We all have our limits that could lead us to question some of the decisions we’ve made. But in the words of Sir Trix: “Almost a year into answering the call of the teaching vocation, I have yet to experience moments of regret… I hope I never get to experience even a single moment of regret. And if I ever do, I hope I don’t dwell on them and make that conscious decision to remember how my students inspire me to always be at my best.”

‘What-ifs’ in our lives are inevitable. For us, it could be a test we could have studied more for or an assessment we could have put more effort into. For our educators, it’ll be what more they could have done for us; after all, we’re only in the Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS) for two years. But in the end, with or without regrets, our teachers will always have us in mind. They are our guiding stars, lighting up our way to the best versions of ourselves.

Serving Recognition

Behind every educator is a person waiting to be seen and heard.

Teaching is a noble profession. Others may think that it is just an act of writing things on a chalkboard and assigning tests, but teaching is a whole lot more than it seems. It entails patience and sacrifice, love and understanding, and most importantly, knowledge and wisdom. Our educators carry the future in their hands—they pave the way for us to grasp our dreams.

“Becoming a teacher takes a great level of responsibility and accountability; becoming a formator takes a deep, deep level of trust—from the students, most especially. And in their choosing to trust me to help them achieve their hopes and dreams, I feel that they have also chosen to become vulnerable around me—sharing with me their struggles, their joys, sometimes their burdens, and even their victories. Who wouldn’t feel honored to be a part of their formation knowing all of these?” Sir Trix says on his profession as an educator.

The efforts and sacrifices of our educators: the rigorous studying to become a teacher, the nights spent creating lesson plans, and the tenacity to spread knowledge and wisdom all throughout the day should not go unnoticed. Our educators were individuals who chose and were entrusted with the mission to pave the way for the future—they chose to teach us.

As students, it is also important to recognize these individuals once in a while; to thank them for the mission they continue to uphold and will continue to uphold even when we have already left the ASHS and begun our own careers. When we come across them, let’s not forget to smile at them, wave at and greet them politely, do our best in what they ask of us to do, help them when they need help, and generally be good students. That is all they are asking from us—to reciprocate the efforts they have made in teaching and forming their students. A little appreciation goes a long way—the motivation and energy it provides to our educators does more than the cups of coffee they drink to kick start their days.

Apart from individual efforts, the whole ASHS community never fails to recognize their educators. For instance, Duffy Delaney Day—shortened as D3 by many—provides an opportunity for students, parents, and non-teaching personnel to show their appreciation to their educators through a medley of ways: letters, sashes, songs, dances, and resounding cheers.

“I felt very appreciated, even though I wasn’t around during D3 … to hear from my students via the letters [has] made me think that I must be doing something right for them to show me this kind of appreciation—even after D3. I feel fortunate to have been given a chance to be a formator; even more privileged to know that somehow, I’ve shared a part of who I truly am to them,” Sir Trix says about Duffy-Delaney Day.

Our teachers are people as well—people who have jobs, deadlines, tasks, responsibilities, and whole lives apart from the facade we see in the ASHS. Like us, they are people who feel all sorts of different emotions and go through different experiences.

“As a married man, I make sure that I begin my day by preparing lunch for my wife and I … when I get to school, I open my laptop and make sure that all the materials I need for my classes are in order so that I focus on giving my students the best, most entertaining, most appealing, high-energy discussions,” Sir Trix shares. His—and other educators’—routines are just like anyone else’s. Pair this with their responsibility to teach and manage multiple classes; it is one heck of a workload. 

“I do all sorts of things: check my students’ deliverables, call my wife, have lunch, all while waiting for my next class When the last bell for the day rings, I dash my way home to make sure that the house is in order—with dinner prepared—right in time for my wife’s arrival from work.” He adds. Despite the responsibilities, demands and troubles life throws at them, they continue their duties to shape our minds for us to carve the future. Isn’t it so inspiring and noble of them, the fact that they chose to teach us? In the eyes of the educator, students are individuals who need them as their guiding light; in each step of the way, they never falter to shape us into better people.

Our educators try their utmost to mold us into the prospects of tomorrow, so we should try our best in our studies and behaviors. After all, education is a balance—a harmony—between the learner and the teacher. Our teachers also depend on their students for them to hoist us into heights greater than ever before.

In the eyes of the educator, their jobs are not just jobs; they are a commitment—a mission to build the future.