๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ: ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐
๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ
As a child, I was socially awkward, and I didnโt consider myself to be smart. I didnโt have any talent or skills to talk about, and people only acknowledged my presence to ask me if Jennifer Evangelista (a student council member and honor student) was my ate. Iโd say yes, and then receive a version of, โWhy are you not as smart as her?โ
It was in 5th grade with Mrs. Delos Santos (previously Ms. Lim) that it all changed. Every time we had a writing task, I would finish it quickly so that I could go back to reading a book. I noticed that Mrs. Delos Santos would always come to my table to read my paper. She did not do this with the other students, and they were starting to notice. They started whispering: โMaybe sheโs cheating? Maybe she writes so poorly that Mrs. Delos Santos has to correct it ASAP?โ
My teacher noticed them too, so she put an end to it by announcing to the class that for a time, she thought all my writing assignments were done by adults in my house. When she started asking us to complete the writing tasks in school, she was able to verify that I was indeed writing my own compositions. She then smiled at me and told me that I was the first 5th grader she met whose writing looked like it came straight from the professional glossy magazines.
That was the first time in my life that somebody told me that I was good at something, and it inspired me to be a teacher. Iโve been teaching for seven years now, always aspiring to be the Mrs. Delos Santos to other kids who were just like me.
