JJ, not-so-little Jeffrey Junior, is the reason why I have trouble walking, why I need to rest my foot for two weeks, and why I can’t do long walks for six weeks. A puddle of water that he left at the bottom of the staircase was the cause of my accident. I slipped, fell, twisted my foot, and got injured in the process.
That was Monday night (July 12). I had an e-consultation with the doctor, who said to keep my feet up and to immobilize the injured part. But that’s impossible because my vaccination schedule was the following day, Tuesday (July 13), in Minglanilla, around 49 kilometers from Liloan if you take the Central Nautical Highway and the Cebu South Coastal Road. Why do I need to get my vaccination in Minglanilla and not in Liloan? I will talk about that in another entry.
Because of this, I — the injured, stressed, whiny mother — have been moving around from north to south Cebu and vice versa.
The result?
Really swollen feet. I have a fever too that reached 39.8 degrees, a side effect of the vaccine. I have body malaise so I am generally in the not-feeling-well category.
It’s hard to be sick when you have three children and zero house helper. My husband just got his second dose of the vaccine and he is on his way to join the not-feeling-well category too.
But the good news is that last July 15, I virtually attended my graduation day!
Graduation, what?
Okay, let’s backtrack a bit.
I enrolled in the Diploma in Professional Education (DPE) back in 2012 at Cebu Normal University. But I wasn’t able to finish it because I got pregnant with the twins. DPE is a program that you enrol in when you’re already a degree holder but you’re thinking about taking the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). You take professional education units to prepare you for the LET. Before the pandemic, many will just take the required 18 professional education units so they can take the exam. But I enrolled in the midst of a pandemic and the good people at the Professional Regulation Commission are still catching up with the long list of education graduates in 2020 who are yet to take the exam.
Long story short, I cannot take the exam just yet. So I went ahead and enrolled in the second semester which was mostly about practice teaching.
I totally enjoyed my practice teaching experience! I handled two classes: one on Speech and Theatre Arts, and another on Language, Culture, and Society. My students were from the College of Education, many of them are talented, kind, and hardworking.
It will be an understatement to say that the experience was life-changing because it is more than that. I decided to go through the process of teaching on a virtual platform during a pandemic because I want to experience how it is to be a teacher in these challenging times.
It was such an eye-opener!
They say that practicum teaching is a “make-or-break” phase for many students wanting to become a teacher.
It is true.
You will come out of the experience stronger in your resolve to be the best teacher that you can be OR you will give up entirely. Teaching is tough and it involves long hours of preparing your lessons for a one-hour discussion. It is exhausting and there are times when you feel that it is a thankless job. But where can you find a profession that will give you the opportunity to shape the minds of the generation that will, God willing, steer us in a better direction?
Teachers are changemakers and proponents of change themselves. Reading the letters and reviews of my students fills my heart with so much joy and hope. They are passionate, talented, and value-driven; these are three potent ingredients that will make up a dedicated teacher. Now, more than ever, especially during a time when learning can feel impersonal, we need teachers who can strategically and creatively plan and implement lessons with the best interest of the learners in mind.
It has been truly an honor and a privilege to have carried out my practice teaching phase at the Cebu Technological University Danao Campus.
Thank you to all my professors especially to Dr. Roselyn Gonzales and Dr. Decem Suladay for the guidance. My batchmates who shared the trials and triumphs of this calling that we chose to embrace. My family — Jeff, Nick, Toni, and JJ — who have bended time and resources to accommodate this endeavor.
What a year it has been!
I graduated last July 15 in my pajamas, in pain from my injury and groggy from my fever.
But I am grateful.
Thank you for all your congratulatory messages and kind words.
I graduated twice this year already: first in my sewing class last May 2021, and second in the DPE (Diploma in Professional Education) program.
I’ll “graduate” for the third time this year when JJ, the Prince of Mischiefs, bid his kindergarten years goodbye. It’ll be the graduation that I will cry for sure. It has been a difficult academic year with JJ alone. I yet have to find the perfect adjective that will describe the journey with the twins in the mix so when JJ’s name will be called, I’ll be the mother who’s going to cry so bad it’ll put Judy Ann Santos’ performances to shame.
On Wednesday (July 14) night, he came up to me and apologized.
“Mama, I miss sleeping beside you. I’m so sorry. I did not mean to hurt you. I just wanted to see how water evaporates but it didn’t evaporate fast. My curious brain got me in trouble again,” he explained.
I almost spit out my coffee.
Then, he cried some more.
I’ve since learned not to force my children to say “sorry.” It has to come from the heart. I am not going to tell them to apologize because I want them to.
I was in so much pain that it would have been so easy to tell JJ to go to his room but I truly felt the sincerity in his apology. It was so real and genuine that it melted my Mommy heart. So… we’re OK now. He’s still not allowed to sleep beside me because he has to “serve his sentence” but we’re all good. My left foot is still pretty swollen so I am camping out on our huge couch. It’s comfortable and I am closer to the kitchen. Antoinette is keeping me company. She sleeps on a comforter spread in the living room.
Next stop: work some more on other graduate school papers because I am never ever done with learning.
