LEGENDS

(Here goes to all teachers around the world. It is still my fervent belief that teaching is  one of the noblest of all professions, if not the noblest. And though I just resigned from the teaching work recently (story on next post, hehe), its life changing impact on my person and well-being will go with me for the rest of this lifetime. Admittedly, I owe a lot to the teaching profession, and here on this post--to the two most influential teachers that molded me way beyond their assigned 'role' as teachers. Happy World Teachers Day. Cheers!)

Two of the names which could easily surface when I think of “great” people were two of my former teachers in CLSU—and I daresay, the two of the best teachers in CLSU.

They are Professor Ben G. Domingo Jr., much known by the students as “Tatay Ben”; and Sir Michael Carlo Abella, or better known as Sir Ponti.

Theirs will be the name I would always attach the word “teacher”, in the most precise definition of the word. I picked them out of the ordinary because they possess such an extraordinary perspective when it comes to educating students.

Sir Ben (I was not used to call him Tatay Ben because we were not that actually close like his students in Dev.Com) , was once my teacher in Public Speaking and Argumentation and Debate. He's from the Department of English and Humanities, and teaches almost every English subject.

The best thing about Sir Ben is that he never easily gives up on his students. You can call a student mediocre, but Sir Ben sees the potential behind that mediocrity. He always encouraged us in class to be better than what we are, and challenged us to exceed our limitations and to "think out of the box".

I learned from him that nothing can stop you if you are willing to firmly stand on your principles and on what you believe in. He considers courage and daring to be the key to making yourself the best person you can be.

There were so many things I learned from his lectures, which not only focused on the lessons on textbooks, but also on necessary lessons about life. He oftentimes point to his experiences in life as his greatest lessons, and true to him, experience is the best teacher.

Because of him, I came to regret once that I did not pursue Development Communication so that he could be my teacher for many subjects and not just one. But with what I learned from him, I came to love my course and see it in a more profound way.

Meanwhile, like Prof Ben, Sir Ponti was one of the teachers I dreamed of having in class. As a teacher, he was oftentimes seen as a funny person, and one who possesses a jolly and bubbly personality that is easily loved by people. He also has a free spirit that is very contagious if one would really read between his lips.

Sir Ponti was my teacher in our our last Philosophy subject in our curriculum, which is Philosophy of Man. My perception of his ‘greatness’ as a teacher was actually just established by the stories of his former students, most especially from the SokSay community. I had the notion that these stories were just myths and exaggerations. Not until he became my teacher that I realized he was more than the mythical figure I heard of, more than what legends have told in their romanticized stories.

To my opinion, he was some sort of an exciting adventure during lecture hours, in which, as you go along with his life stories you would discover for yourselves hidden treasures that was knowledge and learning.

He was a good story teller, yet what he says are not mere stories but knowledge itself. Not only knowledge about the lessons, but, like what Sir Ben reveals, knowledge about the world beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Like Prof Ben, he encourages students to be involved in things that could make them more productive and useful to the society. Sir Ponti is an advocate of extra-curricular learning: learning things outside the classroom, learning lessons under the sun. These things taught me that the best lessons of life one could learn are the lessons obtained by being with people in different walks of life. Sometimes, these lessons appear to be unrewarding at first glance, yet as you give them a place in your heart, they could be magical.

One of the best things Sir Ponti said, and one that I will remember, goes like this: “Just work hard and do your best…never mind what the world says at you. Do what makes you happy…and eventually, time will come that the world will see how greatness is made and achieved…”

With that, I am reminded that greatness was never given at birth, not for only a few individuals. More often than not, greatness is to be achieved, and most of the time, it is achieved through the respect and appreciation from the people whose lives you have touched….and changed.

And I say that Sir Ben and Sir Ponti, in more ways than one, have touched, inspired, and changed my perspectives, and challenged me to become bigger and better than I am. They helped a lot in grounding me as a person, and made me realize that there is more to it than the things we have in this life--and that, like what the Little Prince enunciated, the most essential things in this world are the ones that are felt by the heart.

That made them to be greater than what they could ever imagine. They are larger than life.

They are living legends.