It's been a joy to help others. And it's such a pleasure to be of service to everyone, somebody, or anybody that you love as well as you meet along the way. My parents have always instill in me the spirit of benevolence and kindness and that was one of the values as well as virtues I have inherited maybe from them.
Last Friday was my last day of teaching Fundamentals of Nursing with Batch 40 in school. I came early in the morning to start the day and as I came into the room I was greeted with sad and gloomy faces because they look so down and affected due to the fact that they knew of the school's plan to take me off their schedule. I heard they opposed the move by filing a petition to keep me and they were still waiting for the result of their petition that day.
They were telling me that it was unfair for the management to remove me from teaching them because they were so comfortable with me already. They say they like me a lot and that they were learning a lot from me. They also told me that they will adjust again to another teacher when I am gone and that it will affect their grades. And they don't want that to happen to them.
As I listened to all their individual complaints I knew that they were still in denial because of this drastic decision. I told them that they have to accept change and that change is for the better. They have to give a chance to the next instructor because I know they can also learn from him especially from his experiences as a nurse.
In as much as I wanted them to learn from me, I also wanted them to learn from others because I wanted them to interact with other personalities as well where they can get more experiences. It will help them later on especially when they have their own individual jobs. Being a nurse entails a lot of interactions with other people's personalities and that it can also toughen them up especially in dealing with mean and precocious people. I know they will be okay with Mr. Villanueva because he is a very good teacher.
In my experience as a nurse, I always learned a lot from interacting with other people. Having listened from the wisdom other people had shared with me I always find it a pleasure to talk to them. I can get a lot of advises as well as learn different lessons in life especially to those who are more experienced and had the joy to really teach someone with passion. It is a very rewarding learning experience having met and interact with them intimately in a conversation.
There's always a subtle cues that can tell me that a person is an intellectual at the beginning. From there I can strike a more interactive and rational conversation with them and can learn a lot from the interaction. I can talk to them in hours and get more insights especialy for everyday undertakings.
About me, I always have some inhibitions with regards to interacting with people that's why some of my students told me that I look very strict and unapproachable on the first meeting. I told them that it is okay to have that kind of impression because as a teacher I have to make a gap and maintain that imaginary line that separates a teacher from a student..... which they call respect.
I told them that I don't want to get too close with the students because in my experience it always brings me to so much trouble especially when it comes to a teacher-student relationship. They say too much closeness can bridge contempt which in my own personal experience is very very true and I don't want that to happen to me either. It will be a nightmare if that will happen on my part.
I told my students that they need to psyche up their teacher next time and must be frank and honest with him or her about their expectations so that everything will be laid out on the floor in an organized manner. In that, their learning process will be continuous and smooth as they go along. Things might be troublesome sometimes but if they can talk and communicate with each other willingly then everything will just be smooth sailing and productive.
I told them that learning has always ups and downs and that they have to prepare themselves with the labile condition of their learning situations. Learning is not permanent. It always change. They have to have flexibility in adjusting to a change and I didn't lack an opportunity telling them to study hard. Learning is just like a roller coaster and in order not to be thrown out from the ride they have to strap themselves well with good study habits and proper organization when it comes to studying.
My heart bleeds leaving them at this time but I know it will be for their own good and I will be the one stopping it if it's not good for them. Hopefully, when I see them in their clinicals they will joyfully tell me that I am right at the start. Can't wait to see that happen. And I will be waiting for it to happen in the future. That I will patiently wait for now.......
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