My student headed immediately to her seat with that stiff and noticeable heaviness.

I gave her an 80
and I sensed that I have to do the drill again. Class, I waited for them to tone down, if you think
that you deserved more than what Ive given, please talk to me. This is just one of the teachers drill
that I try to avoid as much as possible; giving grades comes next to grading their papers. If we have to
adjust them because your scholarship depends on itperhaps you can talk to me so we can come up
with a way to adjust italthough, you have to invest extra hours on it, I am searching for a loophole in
teaching ethics to justify what I just said, to no avail. Im so nice.., I whispered to myself - I wish that I
was my instructor in college.
What happened with being contented with 75? I recalled that I even failed my Statistics subject,
dropped two other subjects because the teachers are mean (plus my college-rock-and roll-habits), and
80 is a depressing grade? Back in our days, we celebrate 75 just like how we celebrate birthdays. So
what went wrong today? I decided to finish giving the rest of my class their good/bad news before I
resume my lecture.
Grades are just numbers, I continued, trying to recall random lines in drunken debates I had with
college friends. You know, I can give you 98 or even 99, but can you justify it? For three seconds, I let
them absorb what I said. Their puzzled looks hinted me to continue, Let us say you apply for work and
they are impressed with your grades. They call you for an interview, a demo of some sort. Can you do it
with the standards of a student who gets 99 as a grade? Most heads finally nodded to my relief; I dont
know if I can continue with the lecture anymore. It is time for another life-story telling (which may be
inspiring to some, and annoying to most). I can show you my transcript tomorrow and youll laugh at it.
It is not really a good sight to seeBut, I am surprisingly here as your teacherwhy? Not because of the
grades, but experience, and not merely experience, but the skills you gain from it. Before we graduate,
most of us are tutoring already. It means that when we graduate, may edge na kami. We get excited in
job hunting and before we know it, madami na pala kaming napagdaanan. I realized that I am already
25 years old.
Sino ba kasi mga working students dito? Ill give plusdirect to the grade. Their eyes finally gleamed
and six raised their hands proudly. I want certifications before I give it, and dont ever think of faking
one because Ill call your boss. Who am I to talk that way anyway? With all my past mistakes, I realized
that it is all by duty as a mentor to encourage righteousness even if I am far from being righteous.
We have yet to dismiss our class after ten minutes but I decided to call it a day. I rushed to the faculty
room avoiding eyes to hide my suspicious early arrival. I turned my laptop on, pulled my drawer and
grabbed the thick yellow papers I failed to grade a week ago. Being a teacher really demands most hours
of your life, especially the grading part. Two hours to prepare lessons, Five hours to draw X-marks and
check marks, another hour to advice students I let out the usual sigh. Add your graduate school
requirements and it usually forces one to go drinking instead. I was heading out of the school when I
realized that. Kamusta ka naman buhay hehe.