Is there "LIFE" after teaching? Part II The second encounter (happy and sad)
A lot of things happened in my
life after my first taste of one of the noblest of all professions. I spent 2
years (1993-95) in Taipei working as a private nurse in a military hospital. I
learned a new language, Mandarin which I thought then was difficult to learn
just like what I speak now most of the time, Dutch but because it was spoken
every day, made it easier for me to get used to it. I learned how to cook Chinese food which
became one of my favorite cuisines in
the whole wide world.
I’ve met the father of my
daughter Isabel soon to be born in 1999 whom I thought was one of the good things that happened to me and will last for the rest of my life. Went abroad
again for 2 years with Isabel’s father. Went back to the Philippines, lived a
domestic life, got pregnant while managing a small business. Had a difficult life
while pregnant and a broken heart after Isabel even turned 3 months. But nothing
in the world can replace the joy and happiness I felt when I delivered the
youngest of my 2 children.
I was overjoyed and decided
that I don’t even need her father to make me happy. I can live alone raising my children and
derived happiness just with Justin and Isabel beside me. They were all that
matters to me. Yes, I was every now and then very lonely and feeling hurt and
empty but most of the time survived and fought those predicaments and ended up
winning and happy. I experienced working in the sales and marketing. I had luck
too in this category which harnessed even more my communications skills and
interpersonal relationships. Added to that, I was also working part time as a massage therapist and was able to maintain a pool of clients.
It was somewhere in the year
2003 that I’ve met a friend during one of our seminars in sales that paved the
way to my next encounter as a trainer. It
was a newly built caregiver training school in Sta. Isabel San Pablo City with
a branch in Quezon City, Philippines which aimed to send graduates abroad
particularly the USA.
I had an interview, did a
teaching demonstration and was hired, given a module to teach and a schedule
and begun again my journey to what I loved doing, sharing my knowledge and
skills to a particular group of people dreaming to change their lives by
learning how to do the art of caregiving. It was a small group of mixed
professionals again wanting to go abroad as if that was the only way known
during that time to attain a better
life.
My students and I had a very
good relationships. Inside the classroom it was a teacher/student treatment but
outside of school we became good friends. We had so much fun both during the
learning process but likewise after that. We had encountered some problems at
the San Pablo branch that we have to transfer to the Quezon City branch but we held on and we made the most of it. There
were people who betrayed the trust and kindness of the people whose intentions
were to help these aspiring students effect a change in their lives.
The owners of Caregiver
Resource Center Phils, Inc. were some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met
in my whole life. They have supported all of us especially the students during
those not very pleasant times. They are very kind, supportive and even if they
are well-off they are very down to earth. They have helped me in so many ways.
Up until now we contact each other and kept our genuine friendships.
I served them as a trainer of
CRCPI for a year. It was another great experience to be able to teach a group
of individuals the different aspects of geriatric nursing or caregiving. At
present, some of them have applied what they have learned, they have successful
jobs related to it, in abroad working and the rest of them ventured into
entrepreneurship or advanced in what they were best at.
After that, I was hired as a
clinical instructor at one of the Colleges of Nursing in San Pablo and taught there for more than 2
years. This experience even made me better at what I do. It was also during
this time that I have to combine it with being a student again taking a master’s
degree, the Master of Arts in Nursing.
There were beautiful and sad experiences that
happened during these years which probably will every now and then ignite what I
felt every time I reflected on what had happened in my life in the past. Or sometimes when it was the topic of conversation with previous colleagues and friends at times when we see each other or get together once in a while. Was I probably just being kind, naive and not very
assertive of my abilities and capabilities back then that I was being used? Or did I let it happen because I
have nowhere to go or that I didn’t have a choice at the time and just accepted
what was being offered and never bothered to question anything? Was this
situation being taken advantaged of?
Why did I feel that way? Firstly, I was the only one given a monthly compensation
when everybody was paid per hour. Then, I was
at the office every Saturday and eventually found out from the secretary that I
really don’t have to be there because it wasn’t really necessary since I wasn't paid for it. There were some few more that it's better left unsaid. You probably will feel sorry for me. :) How can I be so naive?
Or should I say "stupid"? Or maybe I probably deserve it? Or maybe it was not at all the intention? It's not very important anymore, but whatever the case maybe it has taught me a valuable lesson and made me realized a lot of things about people and life.
Is there "life" after teaching? DEFINITELY... and it was even BETTER.
To be continued.... :)
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