Graduation

     In the Philippines, we have a 6-year elementary grade and a 4-year high school. Handling the 4th-year students are not quite easy. You as a teacher need to emphasize to them how important to undergo a college or even a vocational course, even what we call a TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Authority) course that would only take 6 months or less. You also have to take note of their subjects if they are on the edge of failing and how much effort they should take for them to graduate. There is also involvement with their personal problems, and sometimes financial...it really took a long way. For almost 10 months that we had been together, finally, they have made it.

     At the beginning of our class, I had encouraged and motivated everyone to dream dreams, a belief in one's self, and faith in God. I have even given them a project on Values (since class advisers were the ones handling this subject as an additional from their expertise) to make a dream board. The objective is to focus on their goal and on what they wanted to achieve. We also had this statement made on the 1st day of our class, that they have to shout and convince himself/herself upon saying it, "Hindi ako magda-drop! ga-graduate ako!" (I won't drop the class! I'm going to graduate!). Classmates who would hear would clap and agree if they were convinced of what each was saying. The law of positive attraction is also convincing yourself that you're gonna make it, that you can do it, that you can have it, that you can achieve it. I told them that if they themselves cannot be convinced of what they wanted to happen, nobody can. I'm sure they did not forget these two starting events in our class.

     Last night, April 5 was their graduation day, all girls were in tears but I'm keeping myself holding on until one of the boys came to me and call me to say thank you and really cry his heart out...I never thought he would cry like a child to me while I'm hugging him...that's the point I can no longer hold on to my tears..it flows..and while I am writing this blog, tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm really gonna miss them..my cellphone for the last few days before graduation day has not stopped receiving messages from them saying their thank you's..that's the essence of teaching I think, letting them know how I care, whoever they are whatever they have done. They are like my own children. It somehow made them realize what I had been doing for them and unconsciously realized what I have told them that they are in school to learn how to learn..and after that night, I think they did...

4N batch 2011, my advisory class...