sitting in between

It's easy to remember teachers who have either tortured us to death (of course I'm exaggerating) or who have inspired us by teaching us life's useful lessons (or fine, taught us to appreciate Organic Chemistry... hello Mr. Guidote).

It's always someone on the extreme end of the spectrum who we remember. Not the ones in between. We remember the really really good or the really really bad ones, the "great terrors", the "awful terrors", or the ones we used to make fun of because we felt that we knew more than they did (typical high school been-there-done-that thinking).

Call me weird but I tend to remember more than the "extremes". Maybe it's nicer that way. Or maybe there's just really something special about each one of these teachers that they won't really fall somewhere in-between. Or maybe none of them really is THAT BAD (we just have all these parallel wavelengths and our thinking never meets with the way they think in this world). Well ok, sometimes there are really bad ones.

But teachers, no matter what we say about them, are teachers. They do their roles, day in and day out. They teach. Or sometimes they try. (Trying has always been good. We eventually get "there" by trying.)

To teach is such a powerful tool. Teachers do have power.

There even comes a point in time when teachers hold more power over us than our parents.

Have you ever remembered doing an assignment in grade school or preschool and your mom or dad wanted to help you out and they got it all wrong and you told them: "But teacher said this and that..." At that time, your assignment was the WORLD for you. You just had to get it right. With getting it "right" meaning doing it your teacher's way.

Then eventually, you realize that the teacher isn't always right. The teacher doesn't have all the power. And there's the struggle. You want that power for yourself.

Somehow you just think that way as your grade level goes higher and higher. In high school, it all gets full-blown and disproportioned when you think that your teachers always get it all WRONG. Except for that one or two "cool ones" who seem to understand you or the ones who make the subject matter worthwhile for an adolescent with peculiar interests.

Then the world turns bigger as you graduate from high school. And you become more serious and you learn to respect your teachers who respect you. Somehow you will meet those who see you as an equal or someone who just wants you to think for yourself.

That's when you meet that teacher who actually wants you to debate with him (hello Sir William Panlilio) or the professor who wants all of you to answer the same question in a Philosophy exam. There is always a correct answer but getting just that merits you a D. How you actually arrive at the correct answer merits you that B that most are happy with. How "pretty" and "organized" you've woven everything merits you that A that is almost impossible to get. But once you see that big red A, you just say "wow" to yourself. Then you thank teachers like them for making you think more and be more.

Then there's LIFE outside school where you look at your parents again who have been there all this time and you realize that they have been your teachers for life. All your teachers in school had their mistakes. And you realize your parents had their own share too. But what the heck, you learn from all their mistakes along with the ones that you yourself made.

Then there are the beautiful people around who you just meet randomly each day. They may be younger or older but no matter what the age, you could learn so much from them if you just open your eyes and ears to see and hear them.

And then you realize that we were not talking about power all this time.

Somehow it doesn't matter who has more of it because there's more to life than power. You go back from where you started when you knew not so much and you just wanted to take everything in.

Teaching and learning are all part of being human. We all want to learn. No, we all NEED to learn. Even if we say we don't, we always learn SOMETHING.

By now you know that I'm not talking about just reading, writing, and math. It doesn't always have to be in school. The best part of learning usually happens outside it.

Teaching and learning are part of the human cycle. The best way to learn is to teach and the only way you could teach is if you have learned what to teach. They're forever paired.

I see myself moving back and forth between both. A teacher, a learner, then perhaps a teacher once again.

They say it's a calling. But I think everything is a calling. Being a doctor is a calling. Being a fashion designer or a makeup artist is a calling. The best way to know if you've fulfilled a calling is when you called yourself to do those things and you're happy doing them.

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Hello my Padawan. This one's between you and me. The world is just sitting there to read. Or perhaps sitting there and watching us while we walk, run, and play. Sometimes amused. Sometimes not. But somehow interested. Yes, interested. I would think so.

How time flies. I used to just sit quietly and watch the rest of the world. Now, it's watching us back. It's nice to see that the world sits and watches too. It comments every now and then. I love that. But more often than not, it's silent. I love that still.

You're turning one in a few weeks. And I can't believe how much time I've spent on and with you.

You accompanied me through my ups and downs. We had one hell of a year, huh? I'm now looking forward to the new adventures of your second year!

Advanced Happy Birthday to my BLOG!

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P.S.
I have a little surprise in store for you guys...
Just remind me in a few days. :)

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL AND HAPPY WEEKEND!