After almost a year of being a teacher, I can say that I have never been more fulfilled and frustrated at the same time. The school year is finally nearing its end and the possibility of my return to the corporate world looms in the horizon.
Teaching is definitely a vocation. I never thought I could care so much for how well a kid is doing in Math. I never took it personally if they don’t like it but I would lose sleep if they don’t get it. After three years of gained confidence in my abilities by reporting to corporate managers and analyzing financial data, I never thought a 10-year-old could make me doubt myself simply because I couldn’t make him comprehend the concept of lowest terms. There were a lot of highlights of course, simple things like making a kid with autism sit still for the rest of my 90-minute period, a child with learning disabilities get an 18/20 in a factoring exercise, or a grade four student telling me he missed me after being absent the day before. In a school that keeps on pushing teachers to be superpeople, I learned to extend myself several times, always thinking and looking for other ways to do things.
Teaching is a calling. Either you are or you’re not. It doesn’t matter if you choose to be in the profession because teaching is not confined inside the classroom. At least that’s what I would say now because I might be turning my back on a job that I love.
In the first place, what made me ditch corporate work? The most glaring reason for me then was the lack of purpose. Sure, I know the purpose of each and every report and program that I made, I know the significance of the figures to the decisions the management has to make but I didn’t know MY purpose in the whole scheme of things. I enjoyed the work immensely but corny as it may sound, I felt that I didn’t have a direct hand for the betterment of society. On the other hand, when I got into teaching, I could have all the hand that I want. Handling a class of just 18 students means the chance to have a say in the kind of 18 adults they would be. I’ve had 64 students this school year which means an influence, no matter how small, over 64 future adults!
So if I enjoyed it and was fulfilled by it, why go back to corporate work? The reason other teachers have for leaving. Teachers don’t get paid a lot here in the Philippines and companies are willing to pay me more, hehe! Of course, it’s a bonus that I still enjoy corporate work a lot and I have to admit that I kind of missed it. But, I’ll go back someday... maybe when I’m older or I have kids already or I simply don’t want an 8 to 5 job anymore. And I’m looking forward to that day.
Note: I wrote this last March, when I was being 'courted' by two companies. After hearing their offers, I finally decided to ditch the corporate world for good. The offers were good but not enough to replace the fulfillment I get from teaching.
