Category: Inspirational Stories

Lean Alfafara, a 14-year-old student, talks about how his teacher has encouraged him to come out of his shell.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was very interested in writing. He wasn’t that good at first but with practice, he got a whole lot better. But alas, our hero, despite his writing prowess, was too shy to enter a single writing contest!

During 6th grade, his teacher hosted an on-the-spot-writing contest. The theme was “My Teacher, My Hero”. The top three writers would receive a prize, most likely a book. The boy said to himself “This is my chance to shine. I can do this!” He loved writing but reading was another story. He read during his free time which he enjoyed very much. This also expanded his vocabulary which gave him an edge in writing.

The time for writing came and everyone was busy. He took a deep breath and focused his thoughts on the theme. After finally deciding on a topic, he just wrote and wrote and wrote.

“Okay class, time’s up. Please pass your papers.”

In the nick of time, he wrote the last word and passed it to his teacher. After that, the entire class talked about what they wrote. Our hero hoped to win. To be finally noticed.

Days passed and it was time for the results. The teacher announced the winners from 3rd to 1st. The boy was really nervous. He always wanted to be the champion!

“Third place goes to…” The class clapped their hands. It wasn’t his name.

“For second place…” The class clapped their hands again but alas it wasn’t his name.

“First place goes to…” The moment of truth finally came. It all depended down on this very moment. He closed his eyes and gulped. He was ready for the result.

“Mr. Lean Raphael Alfafara” To his surprise, his name was called.

“Would you kindly read your article to us?” The teacher said.

He humbly walked to the front of the glass. Faced his teacher and gently grabbed the sheet of paper which held his winning article. Then he read it to the whole class. After reading, he went back to his seat and wept his sweat.

From that day onward, he participated in various writing contests. Although he couldn’t help in losing some but he gained experience and became better.

It was with the help of God, his friends, his family and his 6th Grade teacher: Mrs. Leonar. She was the one who encouraged him to write. She made him go out of his shell and share his talent with the world.

Without you, I wouldn’t be here. And for that, I thank you.

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Kyjean Tomboc shares how an adviser turned a sweaty-palmed fifth grader into a gifted writer. 

It all began with those formal themes back in grade school where you were supposed to write a few paragraphs about yourself and what your pet back home looks like. And who would ever forget that never-ending question of what (or who) do you want to be when you grow yourself a goatee, some pubes and a handful of armpit hair. There was the Filipino version too; I can vividly remember that it was called Kathang Pormal.

Despite the sweaty palms and garbled penmanship, I always look forward to that day in class when our manila paper-covered spring notebooks were distributed for us to write about whatever our teacher fancies us to talk about in paper. The teacher being Mrs. Clara Villaceran, my fifth grade adviser.

What am I to do? I could neither dance well to the tune of Macarena nor sing the Lupang Hinirang without going off key. I also had second thoughts on joining the volleyball team because I looked anorexic when I was ten, perhaps the chocolate-coated Bonicol tablets that were regularly given to us during deworming sessions didn’t work. And almost half of the class can draw. So I decided to please thy academic gods by writing about holistic health during Nutrition Months, nationalistic essays during August and the scene-stealer World Peace every October.

Until today, I do not know why Mrs. Villaceran chose me to represent the entire fifth grade when it comes to crafting essays. I may have shown potential or there was no one else around who was overly enthusiastic during formal theme sessions. I believed it was the latter. The entire time I wrote for the same public school during contests and conferences, she never failed in reminding me to “always write for yourself, the others (judges, readers, etc,) should come in second.”

Back in the days, I thought she was just being overly dramatic. Why would I not worry about the judges and readers would think? After all, it’s a contest. The main goal is to topple other student writers’ works and impress. It was not after I started nursing school, the same time I started keeping a journal, that I began to understand what she meant — the self should come in first when writing.

To the fifth grader who used to always have a hanky at hand for her sweaty palms during writing contests, writing was pure joy. It meant freedom. The who-used-to-be-that-fifth-grader is eternally grateful to Mrs. Clara Villaceran.

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I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. – Kurt Vonnegut

The sweetness of success, they say, comes to those who do not quit; it knocks on the doorstep of the persistent, and finds its way into the backyard of the goal-driven. Oh, so you’ve heard some of these finest quotes before? Hackneyed, you say?

Here’s something new that you might find worth pondering over. For the great author-satirist Kurt Vonnegut, it does not really matter whether you’re smart, persistent or goal driven. All of the aforementioned count for nothing if you’re rooted on the same spot where you stood seven, five or three years ago. It narrows down to allowing yourself to going as close to the edge. Most popular quotes on success, the conventional types, rarely talk about this though.

Educators are often the primary source of these nuggets of wisdom. After all, a fine man is often initially molded into what he has become now at school, specifically during a child’s formative years. Teachers should be open to ideas that may sound radical, it is through this frame of mind that excellent and profoundly original ideas are born. By remodeling one’s flow of thoughts and philosophy, a teacher can pass on the quotes on education that veer away from the stereotypical, — ideas such as staying as close to the edge to see all kinds of things that one can’t see when rooted in the center.

When taught early in life to push themselves to the edge, children are most likely to be creative, innovative, and most of all, they see things that majority of the flock do not. When a child has these triumvirate of qualities, success is certainly a stone’s throw away .

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Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. – John Dewey 

If I look back at my thirty years of existence in this world, I would say that I have never stopped educating myself, whether formally – in an institution or informally – learning from my daily experiences. I owe this to the way my parents inculcated in me the wisdom of never-ending learning. In many ways, education has molded me to be the person that I am right now.

It is just disheartening that that there are many people now in the country who have limited or no access at all to education even though it is legislated as a right. It is also just as disheartening to hear people say that they have chosen a certain college program because they have no more choice or because it is less challenging intellectually. These scenarios are real but they can be challenged.

For instance, in our day and age where the internet is a very powerful tool for almost anything, we can certainly use cyberspace to our advantage. Here’s a simple digital revolution that is easy yet prophetic: Why not simply post on your websites or blogs, or on Facebook and Twitter some quotes on education? Who knows, somebody might get inspired by your post and dare to care.

It is amazing how a few words of a passage can actually be enriching and life-changing. Parents or guardians may use some positive quotes as an initial tool to ignite the fire among their children so they become interested in studies. This can be a non-threatening way to let them see the value of education and get them to learn, relearn, or unlearn. Teachers, on the other hand, can whet their appetites by searching for interesting quotes on success and think of ways to impart them in the classroom setting. This could be an interesting yet challenging responsibility on the part of the teacher. An example might be to ask their students to look for quotes on education that interest them and make a reflection based on their chosen passage.

Many people will benefit from the finest quotes. We have to use them if we still hope to create a good future for ourselves and our children’s children. Let’s start this revolution now.

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Cindy Velasquez believes students leave a mark, a very beautiful mark. 

Ang langgam ug ang hulmigas
(the bird and the ant)

Last week, my students from my English 37 class (Children’s Literature) went to Mahayahay, specifically a small school for children, this place is a squatter area facing SM Cebu. We had storytelling. We had games and light snacks too for the children. We went to this place because of two major reasons. First: this was their final exam. Second: to serve. But surprisingly, I was amazed by my students. It was like I went somewhere else.

Listening to their big sisters

I wrote this poem for them.

Birthmarks

There is a story: in Arabic, birthmark is called wiham, it translates to wishes, according to folklore they are caused by unsatisfied wishes of the mother during pregnancy. And another story: in Iranian folklore, a birthmark appears when the pregnant mother touches a part of her body during a solar eclipse.

I stop.

I feel a strange spots growing on my skin. It stains like color blue with a mixture of black whenever I try my best to simplify the most difficult part of the lesson inside the class. I find these birthmarks beautiful. I can hear its border shaping on my yellowish skin whenever I let my students see animated films, especially Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. Then without a hassle, I appear living in my past life. Everything was facile. I was a mother with eleven daughters, their names I could still remember: Priscila, Carmel, Catherine, Glennyl, Prety, Sweet, Venus, Cherry, Lucille, Joplyn and Shiela. And I made wishes for them.

But in their second lives, I was not their mother. Strangely, those birthmarks return to me like a seal, it footmarks on this earth. It becomes a landmark on my skin. It returns to me, but not to them. But they don’t know I can still see my wishes on their skin. I see their birthmarks whenever they say: thank you. I see it whenever I hear their voices speaking to the children and sharing what they learn from our class. Then, I see a solar mass in a telescope, tonight in my dreams, there will be no full moon. I will see a dragon eating the moon. I will be back in my past life. I will wait for the monsoon’s gas. Tonight, I will touch a part of my body just like the story.