Endings and beginnings

Last Friday was my official last day of being an ICA teacher. There was a mixed sense of loss and liberation as I surrendered my faculty ID to the HR department. There are many things I will miss about being a teacher (my students, AP-Annex, teaching literature), yet there are also many things I will not miss (checking papers, teaching grammar, and certain individuals I will not name).

The past 2 years have been the most amazing, exhausting, rewarding experience of my life, and I still believe teaching is my calling in life. However, it was this very calling which made me realize and accept a higher obligation I have to fulfill, which is help my parents in our family business. Not everyone comprehends and agrees with my decision, but surprisingly, my students (whose maturity and understanding in this matter have moved me and made me immensely proud) were among the first to express their support despite their initial disappointment. It reassures me that I am doing the right thing, that by giving up teaching, I am teaching them perhaps the most valuable lesson I can impart: sometimes, you have to sacrifice personal happiness for the people you love most.

The evening of that same Friday, I received this text from Madel, one my third year students: "Ms. Lim, I know today was your last day as a teacher. I know you'll miss teaching as much as we'll miss you. Well, even though we might be losing a Ms.Lim-English teacher, we know that we gained a life teacher, an achi, a friend, and a second mother (our young single mom, haha) forever." I like the idea of forever, for I know that I will forever be a teacher at heart, no matter what I end up doing in life.

Tomorrow I start working at our office, and there is the apprehension and excitement that usually accompany beginnings. I keep in mind what my friend/counselor/replacement Maddy told me, that whatever you choose to do, do it with excellence. I have chosen this path, and I resolve to walk it with sure, steady steps, and not drag my feet. I also hope that I do not get into too many fights with my parents, although I accept this to be an inevitable part of the job. I have to remember that I am doing this because I love them, and because they love me, and that should override any argument.



Yesterday was my sister's graduation from UST's College of Fine Arts and Design. I'm very proud of her, for I have personally witnessed all the hard work she put into 4 grueling years of drawing and painting and cutting and pasting and lettering and tracing. Now she has to review for her board exams in September, and I am anxious and excited for her own new beginning.

Towards the end of the CFAD graduation rites, this girl who graduated magna cum laude from Advertising Arts (and who received the Rector's medal for academic excellence, I might add) delivered the address of thanks. Apparently, her idea of an address of thanks is equivalent to an Oscar acceptance speech. She proceeded to waste 10 minutes of my life by rattling off a long list of her personal friends and acquaintances, who all helped her reach her glorious achievements. What was supposed to be a speech on behalf of her batch became a self-centered, self-serving spiel that left me and my family (and I hope most of the audience) bewildered and disgusted.

Inspired by her show of egotistic gratitude, I shall now list some people who deserve my thanks for the past 2 years of my short but sweet teaching career:

My parents, who failed to conceal their pride while openly criticizing my line of work;
My siblings, who kept me sane weekday nights and weekends throughout long hours of checking;
AP-Annex, who were my peeps, my posse, both inside and outside the faculty room;
Ms. Sia, who took a chance on a young, inexperienced, overconfident Atenean, and served as my mentor and mother in ICA;
Sir Tirol, who reminded me of my desire to teach by showing me what a good teacher is, and inspiring me to become one;
and above all,
My students, who made being inside the classroom a constant challenge as well as a constant joy; who overlooked and forgave my shortcomings and booboos; who made me feel young and old at the same time; who gave me their confidence, trust, respect, friendship, and love; who taught me as much as, or perhaps more than, I taught them; who made me an infinitely better person than I have ever been in my entire life.

As the song goes, "At the end I want to be standing at the beginning with you." Here's to endings and beginnings, and the people who are there with us from start to finish, from finish to start.