Dear Survivor,
Congratulations, not only for the job well done, but for survivng being a survivor! Yes, that's what you really are... a SURVIVOR. Living your life in the middle of the adverse situations brought by the Covid 19 pandemic is not easy. You realized that, living each day, moment by moment, is a matter of choice. Every new day you may choose to cloud your mind with worries, doubts and fears, but you choose not to give up. Now, you recognize the power in saying, "kapit lang" ("never give up", ) which has become your favorite expression.
Even if you were not afflicted by any life-threatening illness, I know that at the back of your mind, you always feel threatened by an invisible foe, your fear. Now, more than ever, you feel that your fear and your faith are always in conflict with each other. Being the breadwinner in your family, you feel the fangs of fear in thinking about the threat of losing your job which means the loss of your livelihood for your family, and the loss of your self-worth. You spent sleepless nights in thinking about this possibility. Then, your worst nightmare became a reality. With a heavy heart, you received the bad news, you were chosen to be one of the employees to be retrenched by the school. You felt that your world suddenly collapsed upon knowing that . You began to question everything. You asked, "Why me?", "What will happen to my family after losing my job?", "What will I do next?" and more questions started to pop up. Not knowing how to survive in teaching online, you suddenly felt helpless and useless.
You began to doubt yourself as a teacher for more than two decades. You started to entertain the idea of you, being the least important among your colleagues which might be the reason or basis for you to be retrenched. You also blamed yourself for not embracing technology completely, when it was introduced the first time. You felt totally devastated for just being thrown away just like that. You felt that your more than twenty years of teaching experience was wasted and never valued. But, you also tried to see the viewpoint of the school in their decision. This pandemic created an unexpected change in massive scale, hence, coined the term, the New Normal. The educational system, just like the other sectors in the country and abroad, have been hardly hit by this pandemic. Almost all the stakeholders in the education sector also experienced the nightmare of shifting from face to face set up to online delivery of lessons. For a teacher who is not a digital native, the challenges of coping with the requirements of virtual delivery of learning materials and teaching itself, seemed to be insurmountable. In the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, one might ask, who is the "fittest", that can survive in the New Normal? So you spent several sleepless nights thinking about your own and your family's survival at this time of pandemic.
Then, you go back to your FAITH. Like a little child, you told God your worries, your fears, and of course your anger of being caught in this negative situation. You lifted to God your struggles, your pains, and your worries. You relinquished the full control of your life to God and you felt at peace with your decision to trust Him completely.
Then just like in many instances, God doesn't fall short. He listens to us and sends people who will give us the motivation to continue in life and never give up. You always tell yourself that happiness is where your heart is. God knows that teaching is not only your source of livelihood, but also your source of happiness, so it is God's will to give back to you, your happiness. Was it not God's will that your school changed its decision for you to stay ? I am convinced, it is His will. So with a joyful heart, you accepted the offer for you to stay in this school which has become your second home for many years. For me that was a wise decision that you made.
Though not with flying colors, you have survived the school year 2020-2021! You made good in your first year of teaching during this pandemic and just like the famous quotation that says, "Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." I know you my dear, you always want to give your best to your students, so you will do everything for them, and that includes learning more how to navigate the virtual world of teaching. Happy Sailing!
So what does it mean to be a SURVIVOR?
It means...
Seeing opportunity in these trying times.
Understanding the importance of keeping your self-worth.
Recognizing your power to make a better choice.
Valuing the presence of God in your life.
Illuminating hope, even in the darkest moment of your life.
Vanishing your fear of the unknown and the uncertainty.
Owning your mistakes and learn from them.
Rewarding yourself for passing the hurdles of life.
That survivor is YOU, Ms. Dela Cruz
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