The Starlit Sky

My ultimate dream as a child is to become a teacher. I was inspired by Ms. Amoy, my former teacher in Sibika at Kultura. Although a lot of students were making fun of her surname which means smell or scent, Ms. Amoy is the most dedicated teacher I’ve ever known. Nope. She didn’t sell yema and pastillas. Hehe.

Civic and Culture was extremely boring but since she never played favorites, I tried real hard to perform well in her class. She always focused her attention to pupils who couldn’t catch up with the lessons and that included me. In the school where I came from, if a student is not active in oral recitation it means that he/she is a slow learner. So, I was a slow learner. Even if I knew the answer I would never raise my hand and would only partcipate in class discussion when forced to do so, like when directly asked by the teacher. I was shy and very quiet back then … and until now.

One day, Ms. Amoy was angry with my classmate.

Ms. Amoy: Why are you wearing slippers? You’re supposed to wear black shoes in school!

Classmate: Ma’am, my shoes don’t fit anymore and my mother said we don’t have the money yet to buy a new pair.

Using a pencil and a piece of paper, my teacher measured the size of his foot and then the following day, she brought a used pair of black shoes for my classmate. Corny? Dramatic? Maybe. But Ms. Amoy’s true concern for her students really inspired me. In my elementary slum book, I wrote:

Crush: Not you

Motto: Try and try until you die

Ambition: To become a grade school teacher

Not searching for a possible teaching job but bound to get one, I met Teacher Gonzaga during my last semester in college. One day, she went to our house to ask for my father’s help (she’s a good friend of my dad). She said they urgently need a substitute teacher for the afternoon class because her colleague was on bereavement leave and won’t be back until after a month. Of course, my dad didn’t recommend me! First, I was still working on my thesis at that time and second, I was majoring in Business Management not Education. And third, I wasn’t interested.

About Ingrid

At first I couldn’t believe that Teacher Gonzaga, or Ingrid as we call her, was a teacher. She just didn’t look like one. I’ve always had this stupid impression that teachers don’t wear mini skirts - it’s a long story why so please don’t ask why. I think Ingrid looks more of a model than a teacher She was a tallish lady who has a very long hair, has a caramel skin (which I’ve always envied), and has a cheerful laugh which made me feel at ease talking with her after just a few hours. She never runs out of things to talk about - that’s the best thing about her.

to be continued …