Looking Back - A Personal Essay on Schooling
Every time I try to remember my elementary years, I can’t remember much. It all seems just a blur to me. I can’t recall all the lessons I took, nor the faces and names of all the teachers and fellow students I met. What I do recall are the most frivolous of things. I remember running up and down the slope I pass through every day to and from school. I remember being elected, and impeached, as class president in Grade 3. I remember sleeping through most of Grade 2, jumping off the second floor in Grade 5, and staying behind after graduation for failing to submit a sewing project — which, as my H.E. teacher put, is derogatory of the school’s valedictorian.
It was only upon entering high school did I realize how Labogon Elementary School had succeeded in playing a big role in the intellectual development of her students. Mandaue City Science High School has a rigorous procedure for screening aspiring enrollees, and I passed at the top of the list. I then joined and won numerous math and science contests, and was even sent to Manila twice to represent Region VII. After graduating high school, I took up Bachelor of Secondary Education - Major in Physics and Chemistry at the University of San Carlos as a DOST scholar, where I graduated magna cum laude. Then, I took the Licensure Examination for Teachers and got 9th place. Currently, I am teaching Geometry at B.R.I.G.H.T. Academy.
Teaching in a private school has given me a wider perspective. I see the kids nowadays going to school in their cars, each equipped with a complete new set of books and pens, and learning from PowerPoint presentations in air-conditioned rooms. When I was their age, I remember sharing books with some classmates because there isn’t enough for all of us. I remember being crammed inside a tiny classroom together with fifty other kids. But I got no complaints, because despite all of these, Labogon Elementary School had prepared me for life. And for this, I am eternally grateful.
