Every Child Is Special

A boy who can neither read nor write. A friend of mishaps. A teacher’s nightmare.  Ridiculed. Despised. Misunderstood even by his roots.

I wouldn’t dream of having a pupil like this.  If I’m lucky enough to have one, uhm, it surely will be a pain in the head.  Seriously though, it will be a pain in the heart.

I never realized how a child lives in his own world until I watched this movie.  There certainly are a lot of things going inside a child’s mind, those that we don’t understand as adults.  Comprehending everything that a child does is synonymous to studying a whole new course of human behavior.  What adults see as shades of gray, they see as dancing luminous objects.

This movie changed my perspective.  Not that I don’t know how to teach.  It’s just that sooner or later, I might become one of the teachers who simply bark at students who cannot readily cope with the rest.  Yes, they have a point.  In a class of 40 or 60 pupils, how can a teacher take care of each pupil’s needs? 

Where Do I Go?

Experience teaches you the hard way.

Photo credits to Luminaria - Durham, NC 

I remember the life I had ten years ago.  I was a fresher in college then, taking up Bachelor in Secondary Education major in English.  Things changed somehow when I turned 18. I shifted to General Science as a major.  Since then, everything became smooth-sailing.

I would always admire my group.  They call us young scientists, intuitive and adventurous as we were; we always prove them right.  My future was set then. I’ll rise to the top; I’ll do better than my batch mates; I’ll enroll in post graduate courses, and be one of the best science teachers in the country. When I was absorbed by my Alma Mater, I stood grateful and happy for taking the first steps towards my dreams.

I was good. I’d often receive positive feedback and thumbs up from my mentors and school head.  My board rating was high and most importantly, my students learn from me.

 

I didn’t see it coming.  When I transferred to my current school, I was assigned a teaching load in the English department.  The excellence-driven me accepted the challenge.  How ironic! I was supposed to teach Biology in either of the two universities where I was accepted.  And there I was trapped in a school that offered me an English load. That was how I treated the matter then.

God Chisels

A shocking revelation turned my queries into definite answers.  God answered them for me.

Photo credits to www.spiritlessons.com

It was barely two weeks when I experienced a loss, or to be more precise, a failure.  I was used to winning and achieving what I want.  My numerous triumphs in various areas in my life led me into believing that I am favored by God.  I continued dreaming.  My friends and acquaintances look up to me.  They regard me as someone atop them; someone so blessed and fortunate to have the kind of life that I am living right now; but amidst all these, I remained humble. 

However, there is this part of me that should be chiseled.  Unknown to me, I have this egocentric me, selfish me, fame-hungry me.  I didn’t know I have these, until God allowed me to experience failures and disappointments that were supposed to teach me things that I shouldn’t have taken for granted.  Deliberately, I’ve changed. 

People say that the real you will only be seen as you experience a crisis in your life; something tragic, mind-blowing, and totally upsetting.  That holds true to me.  In the midst of my joy, I clearly see God as a generous, loving Father.  But it just changed.  Doubt engulfed me when I learned about my failed test.  Pain consumed my heart.  Shame took away my joy.  I doubted Him for not granting my desire.  I asked, “Why not? When?” I was smashed into pieces and accused him of hurting me.  My pride took my joy for that shame slowly creeping into my being.  I didn’t trust him; I turned into questioning him instead even if I know I didn’t have the least right to do it.

Enduring Life's Tests

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

                                                    -          James 1:24

Photo credits to www.spiritlessons.com

“Inner peace”, a very famous line from the movie Kung Fu Panda.

He faced a lot of difficulties.

He was ridiculed, mocked, laughed at.

He was saddened, had self-pity, and lost confidence.

That was his past.  Fast forward to the present.

One day he plummets.  Next he goes up, and...cheery panda, he jokes! Oh, thanks to his master!

“Inner peace”, that’s the tag line.  Until he found peace, he couldn’t have conquered his fear and won the battle. 

Just a movie, but the lessons are practically for us humani.  It could simply be a source of entertainment for some, but only if you dig deeper will you find its real core.

Do you know someone who, just like the big fat panda, had bravely crossed the raging sea of trials and hurtaches? I’ve known quite a number of them; but there were the chosen ones who’ve etched their way into my heart.