Mr. Toastmaster, Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen--
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
He saw the first light of day at San Francisco, Cebu. As a boy, he was small compared to boys of his age. His burnt skin is a story of his daily habit of welcoming the day in the seashore of Camotes Island, of daily hopping in the expanse of fields of relatives where crops like peanuts and corns abound, of playing all day under the heat of the pacific sun. His hair was long and straight, so unlike today which is short and which becomes curly when it gets long.
Life for Dodong is simple. He experiences a complicated life ONLY when he was listening to radio dramas Simatar and Gabi ng Lagim. Later, he would discover that life is not simply swimming in the ocean and hopping in the fields. Four old men changed his life forever.
One morning, he was awakened by a kiss in the forehead. His Lolo Pedro was about to go fishing. He usually leaves before the rooster crows. The old man, and his wife, talked for a while in the front door. The years did not diminish their sweetness and love for each other. When the old man, Pedro, reached his banca , Dodong was already there. He went out using the back door. The old man did not ask Dodong to go home. He knew what his favorite apo wanted.
On that day, Dodong saw how the sun light produces a rainbow of colors when it touches the face of the ocean, of the small fishes that follow their banca curious of his presence, of the serenity that the ocean brings to a young soul. Preoccupied with the beauty of nature, he did not notice that hours passed, and they were yet to catch a single fish. Until he felt the rumblings in his stomach.
The old man told him that he must be patient. Sooner they will catch some fish which will delight him. If not, God will give the fish to them. An hour passed and they have not yet gotten even a small fish. But he was told to be patient. So he did. Then, they saw a group of fishermen rowing towards their direction. They were Lolo’s friends. So they gave them four big fish. His Lolo encouraged him to say thanks to the fishermen. So he did. Afterwards, his grandfather rowed the banca towards the nearest shore which was a big rock with plenty of vegetation. His Lolo cooked the most delicious fish in his life. He did not remember if they caught fish on that day, but he will never come to forget his Lolo’s words, "Be patient. Sooner we will catch some fish which will delight you. If not, God will give them to us. PEDRO affects eternity.
Some years after, Dodong's parents brought him to Quezon City. There he learned that bad characters in the radio have human forms. A life full of problems is real. But it is here where he met his second teacher, FRANCISCO. He did not know his real name, but later on he called him Francisco in his stories for he likened the man to St. Francis of Assissi.
It was one night when Dodong was frightened by the threat of his auntie's husband that he would place him inside a sack and be beaten until he learns his lesson. When his Auntie’s husband told him LUMAYAS KA, he went of the house and thought of not going back.
It was almost midnight; the cold air enveloped his small frame. He was sitting in one of the waiting shades in the University Avenue in UP Diliman. He had not regret of leaving his Auntie's house, but the cold air and cold bench puzzled him even more why some men would harm small boys like him. It was at this time when an old man approached him and asked what he was doing in there in the middle of the night. Dodong just told him the story. Francisco, a laborer in a nearby construction site, invited Dodong to his barracks. The old man offered the kid his food, his guitar, and his pillow and rugged blankets. Dodong did not even get the name of the man who advised him to go home when the morning came. But lesson inculcated in his mind that night is that... a stranger is a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, or a love one in disguise. Francisco affects eternity.
Dodong grew in wisdom and stature. He took his elementary years in Krus na Ligas Elementary School, then later on at Juan Sumulong Elementary School. He graduated in Antipolo Municipal High School with a best in Science Award and an Outstanding Student in Theater. Afterwards, he entered the Seminary of Alagad ni Maria.
In the first year of his seminary life, he got the impression that seminarians in their congregation must get at least a cum laude distinction when they graduate in their Philo and Theo studies. So, he did try to excel.
In his second year, they were made to live in Infanta, Quezon. There he got a regular talk with his third teacher, JULIO. Bishop Julio Labayen lives in his Kubo, small and simple when compared to the big villas of his counterparts here in Metro Manila. He has a Pajero which was donated by friends. Julio, however, likes to walk, or sometimes, to ride in a tricycle when he is in Quezon. He crosses rivers and climbs mountains to reach people. Dodong’s stay in Quezon brought him back to his roots. There he met farmers and fisher folks who shared to him their lives and the stories they weaved together as a community. Looking back to his childhood in Camotes, Dodong realized that his grandfather also faced the same difficulties, the same atrocities in life.
When he went out of the seminary, Dodong brought with him the lesson he got from Julio Labayen. The real servant of God serves the poorest of the poor. He should not be complacent in a world where poverty of the many benefits the few, where injustice is a tradition, and vices are held as virtues. Julio affects eternity.
Dodong took Political Science to pursue his another dream. He had always wanted to become a human righst lawyer. He got involved with many organizations including the Kabataang Makabayan, This time, he wanted a revolution. He would change the world.
During this time also, he met his fourth teacher, ROBERTO, now 76 and still kicking. It was the old man who told him that he would become a great teacher and many people would learn from him because of what he has to offer, that he will become like Christ, who is also a good teacher. Dodong liked the idea of being Christ-like, but by that time he was thinking of Christ as a revolutionary and not simply as a teacher.
In Roberto, Dodong saw a man of dedication and hard work-- a man who cares for his students. I tell you, if you were his students, after ten years he would still remember even your middle names.
In his first day in the class of ROBERTO, he remembered the man telling the class these words ,” Itong itinuturo ko sa inyo, huwag ninyong kakalimutan hanggang kayo ay mamatay".
Dodong, now a teacher, intends to advance in his studies. If God permits and makes him win a Fulbright scholarship, he will take Masters in TESOL at the United States. He will always live the teachings of his teachers-- PEDRO, FRANCISO, JULIO, AND ROBERTO.
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops in Metro Manila, Philippines. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Windows of the Soul
Mr. Toastmasters, everyone, good evening!
It was nearing midnight, in the olden days, when that was the deadline for reciting the Breviary. The priest pulled off to the shoulder of the highway, sat on the front bumper of his car and by the light of his headlights recited his “Compline”.
A truck pulled up and the driver shouted, “having trouble, buddy?”
“No trouble, thanks,” the priest responded and continued his silent prayers.
“All I can say,” the truck driver replied, “that must be one helluva good book.”
I have already met a lot of people. Few are divine, humane, salvators, inspirational, reformers, and intellectual giants. Some are partisan if not dyed-in-a-wool bigots, anarchist, imperialists, fascists, and putchists. The rest are philosophers, theologians, revolutionaries, and teachers. I met in them pages of books my eyes set upon.
Henny Penny is a hen, Henny Penny is a red hen. Ang baka ay bababa, bababa ang baka, ang baka ba ay bababa? Oo, bababa ang baka. These lines I have learned when I was in grade 1. During those days when reading a book is an adventure, an adventure I want to finish.
My parents sent me in a public school. The textbooks are the first books I have read and nothing else. Eager to get through this reading a book adventure, a boy who has just learned how to read, finish reading his textbooks by the first quarter. My father, upon learning my strong desire for books, was alarmed. He did not want his son to go insane. He told me that I should read the book only during class hours. He was not aware that I was already thirsting for other books.
When I was in grade 2, my Autie Linda gave me my cousins’ textbooks. She said I could use them when I reach high school. It was through these books that I first met O. Henry. His Last Leaf, a short story, made me cry when I was in grade 4. It was only during this time that I finally understood the story I began to read when I was in grade 2.
It was through books where I met those authors, forgetable and unforgetable, whose ideas influenced my thinking in one way or the other.
I met Dante but I have not been to Inferno and Paradiso. He left me in Purgatory. Shakespeare introduced me to Macbeth and made me understand why the world is so troublesome. They talked in languages I don’t fully understand up to these days.
Tolstoy made me appreciate life, love, and lust in War and Peace. Cervantes showed me that to be quixotic is not so bad at all. Only when people start getting rid of labels that we can see each person as what they are. _____________ made me see that man, no matter how great his thinking is is never above the law of consequences. For every crime there is punishment.
Herodutos, Engels, English, Marx , Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, Jose Ma. Sison, Ambeth Ocampo, and F. Sionil Jose lectured me on history. Marx said that our purpose in life is not to interpret history but to change it. I now dare say that we cannot change history because in the classroom no one is too patient to listen to it. So everything has to be said again and again. Events and people, and their deeds stay as facts, not an experience we can learn from.
Freud told me that most of actions are driven by our sexual desires. By the way most people equate sex with life, I cannot simply disagree. Isaac Asimov made me understand that impossible is nothing. No, Ali was not the originator of that principle. I first heard of it from Asimov.
I talked to them everywhere. As long as I have my books with me I can talk to Carl Jung, Plato, Aristotle, and my idol Socrates. I listened to Homer in his wonderful, sometimes foolish, stories. Through books I learned that Einstein and Darwin are school under achievers. Einstein was not really good in Math and was an ineffective teacher. Darwin, most maligned, died a Christian. Most science teachers today would say that Darwin proposed that we came from monkeys. Charles Darwin, if he were alive, wouldl surely say that it was not he but the priests who made such conclusion. Teachers now a days teach us that the first living thing is unicellular, and that natural selection is correct, but they certainly would stop when they reach the level of man. Man does not belong they say.
There are so many other great men and women whose ideas influenced the world. I promise I will share their thoughts to you some other time. I just want you to know that many of the things that I do are inspired by the thoughts shared by Rizal, Bonifacio, Che Guevarra, Mother Teresa, St. Augustine, Exupery, Mahatma Gandhi, Og Mandino, and that of the greatest author, the same who wrote helluva great book, the Bible.
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops in Metro Manila, Philippines. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
It was nearing midnight, in the olden days, when that was the deadline for reciting the Breviary. The priest pulled off to the shoulder of the highway, sat on the front bumper of his car and by the light of his headlights recited his “Compline”.
A truck pulled up and the driver shouted, “having trouble, buddy?”
“No trouble, thanks,” the priest responded and continued his silent prayers.
“All I can say,” the truck driver replied, “that must be one helluva good book.”
I have already met a lot of people. Few are divine, humane, salvators, inspirational, reformers, and intellectual giants. Some are partisan if not dyed-in-a-wool bigots, anarchist, imperialists, fascists, and putchists. The rest are philosophers, theologians, revolutionaries, and teachers. I met in them pages of books my eyes set upon.
Henny Penny is a hen, Henny Penny is a red hen. Ang baka ay bababa, bababa ang baka, ang baka ba ay bababa? Oo, bababa ang baka. These lines I have learned when I was in grade 1. During those days when reading a book is an adventure, an adventure I want to finish.
My parents sent me in a public school. The textbooks are the first books I have read and nothing else. Eager to get through this reading a book adventure, a boy who has just learned how to read, finish reading his textbooks by the first quarter. My father, upon learning my strong desire for books, was alarmed. He did not want his son to go insane. He told me that I should read the book only during class hours. He was not aware that I was already thirsting for other books.
When I was in grade 2, my Autie Linda gave me my cousins’ textbooks. She said I could use them when I reach high school. It was through these books that I first met O. Henry. His Last Leaf, a short story, made me cry when I was in grade 4. It was only during this time that I finally understood the story I began to read when I was in grade 2.
It was through books where I met those authors, forgetable and unforgetable, whose ideas influenced my thinking in one way or the other.
I met Dante but I have not been to Inferno and Paradiso. He left me in Purgatory. Shakespeare introduced me to Macbeth and made me understand why the world is so troublesome. They talked in languages I don’t fully understand up to these days.
Tolstoy made me appreciate life, love, and lust in War and Peace. Cervantes showed me that to be quixotic is not so bad at all. Only when people start getting rid of labels that we can see each person as what they are. _____________ made me see that man, no matter how great his thinking is is never above the law of consequences. For every crime there is punishment.
Herodutos, Engels, English, Marx , Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, Jose Ma. Sison, Ambeth Ocampo, and F. Sionil Jose lectured me on history. Marx said that our purpose in life is not to interpret history but to change it. I now dare say that we cannot change history because in the classroom no one is too patient to listen to it. So everything has to be said again and again. Events and people, and their deeds stay as facts, not an experience we can learn from.
Freud told me that most of actions are driven by our sexual desires. By the way most people equate sex with life, I cannot simply disagree. Isaac Asimov made me understand that impossible is nothing. No, Ali was not the originator of that principle. I first heard of it from Asimov.
I talked to them everywhere. As long as I have my books with me I can talk to Carl Jung, Plato, Aristotle, and my idol Socrates. I listened to Homer in his wonderful, sometimes foolish, stories. Through books I learned that Einstein and Darwin are school under achievers. Einstein was not really good in Math and was an ineffective teacher. Darwin, most maligned, died a Christian. Most science teachers today would say that Darwin proposed that we came from monkeys. Charles Darwin, if he were alive, wouldl surely say that it was not he but the priests who made such conclusion. Teachers now a days teach us that the first living thing is unicellular, and that natural selection is correct, but they certainly would stop when they reach the level of man. Man does not belong they say.
There are so many other great men and women whose ideas influenced the world. I promise I will share their thoughts to you some other time. I just want you to know that many of the things that I do are inspired by the thoughts shared by Rizal, Bonifacio, Che Guevarra, Mother Teresa, St. Augustine, Exupery, Mahatma Gandhi, Og Mandino, and that of the greatest author, the same who wrote helluva great book, the Bible.
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops in Metro Manila, Philippines. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
Mr. Toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen:
Good evening!
Imagine yourself entering a room with more than 30 people inside. At the back of the room you see handsome twins dancing the remix of the most popular dance music. A group of five are playing game cards. A girl runs after a boy teasing her. Some others pillowed the arm of their chairs wetting it in the process. Except for a moustached guy who since you entered the room examined you from head to toe, to everyone you are invisible.
You are invisible, until a paper plane landed on your shoulder.
Mr toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen, It was Wednesday, October 16, 1996 when I entered that classroom—my first day day in teaching. On that day alone, so many ugly things happened from one room to another. So much to convince me that a teacher is either a fool or a martyr.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will spare you from hearing the other ugly things. I am here to tell you why, after eight years, I am still a high school teacher. I have so many reasons, but due to time constrains, I will share few three reasons for this evening.
A teacher encourages you to give your best shot!.
There was a speech choir contest in the school billed “best of the best”. For the students, specially those belonging to the first section, what is at stake is pride. There were two speech choir contest events before this big one. The first section of the seniors almost got a perfect score the first time. So, this time, everyone is just aiming for the second prize. The juniors, especially the first section, does not believe that they can win.In the last contest, they were beaten by the last section which I coached. They have to fight. The school forced them. They got me to coach them.
With three weeks to go before the contest, I told them that the best way for them to win is to fight as a batch. One team for one batch. While the best of the seniors were perfecting their piece, I was conducting an audition for the third year. I told them that we shall use the piece “I am a Filipino” of Carlos P Romulo previously use by the first section. The students protested, they said it was not a good piece. I told them “we shall interpret it in a new way.”
I updated the essay. Romulo ended his in our liberation from the japanese. I continued the story. I added the first quarter storm, the martial law, and the march of the people towards EDSA.
I have to make the students believe that what we are doing is not just for pride, not just for winning. Whatever we do, we do it to undestand to have a beeter view of ourselves.
So instead of practicing at once, I lectured them on the history of the Philippines. They have to undestand everything before they can internalize a role. They have to know the feeling of a peace –loving native when the conquerors went inside his house, plundered their cofffers, raped his mother and sisters, and killed his father. A girl has to feel the suffering of the nun when the japanese soldiers, one after the other, shattered her purity and dreams. They have to understand why the mass has to rally against its leaders and eventually toppled down the dictatorship. They have to understand why they have to present the piece to the people.
After three weeks of daily practice, sometimes ending until 8 pm, the morning of the contest came. I requested the students not to watch the other groups. They will be the last to present. I ask them to always be together. Not to practice anymore but just to be together in a room.
I have seen everything. True to expectation all the five groups were great. The seniors were even better than the first time. When it was about time for the group to present, I told them that whatever will be the result of the contest, they have already won. The lessons that we learned together as a team is bigger than the trophy they will receive. For more than anyone else, they know that this will be an expereince we shall never forget. “just give it your best shot! Then we prayed.
I cannot tell you how they presented, ladies and gentlemen. I can only say that the audience laughed, fell into complete silence, cried, felt pride when the students sang the national anthem in Spanish, English, then in Filipino. The students recived the standing ovation they never expected.
Just give it your best shot! Until now ladies and gentlemen, every time I meet any of the student who was in that group still remembers it. Just give it your best shot! Every time we are together, say in a birthday party of one, they would always talk about what and how it happened. They never get tired of it. Because we all know, on that they, we had proven that is an opinion, not a fact. It is an illusion, not a reality. Whe someone gives his best shot, impossible becomes nothing.
After the result of the contest was announced, it was the student’s time to cry. Their parents, who for so many times discouraged them to attend our practices, embraced their children, so much proud of what they have seen. I, too, am so proud of them.
Since October 16, 1996 until June 14, 2004, ladies and gentlemen, I have seen a thousand of ugly things about teaching. Maybe, more than enough for other souls to search for another profession. I am not saying that the other profession is less noble. Much more, I am not saying that I am one of the greatest teacher you have ever seen. Far from it ladies and gentlemen.
What I have been saying is this: I am a teacher because I am a molder of dreams. I make every student reach hope for tomorrow by believing today. I did not write a book. I did not command an army. I did not I did not build an empire. I did not do those things which accompany greatness.
I, like your teachers of long ago, see not the coal, but the diamond in each of the students. These diamonds are my reasons to stay teaching in high school.
Jef Menguin
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops in Metro Manila, Philippines. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
Good evening!
Imagine yourself entering a room with more than 30 people inside. At the back of the room you see handsome twins dancing the remix of the most popular dance music. A group of five are playing game cards. A girl runs after a boy teasing her. Some others pillowed the arm of their chairs wetting it in the process. Except for a moustached guy who since you entered the room examined you from head to toe, to everyone you are invisible.
You are invisible, until a paper plane landed on your shoulder.
Mr toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen, It was Wednesday, October 16, 1996 when I entered that classroom—my first day day in teaching. On that day alone, so many ugly things happened from one room to another. So much to convince me that a teacher is either a fool or a martyr.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will spare you from hearing the other ugly things. I am here to tell you why, after eight years, I am still a high school teacher. I have so many reasons, but due to time constrains, I will share few three reasons for this evening.
A teacher encourages you to give your best shot!.
There was a speech choir contest in the school billed “best of the best”. For the students, specially those belonging to the first section, what is at stake is pride. There were two speech choir contest events before this big one. The first section of the seniors almost got a perfect score the first time. So, this time, everyone is just aiming for the second prize. The juniors, especially the first section, does not believe that they can win.In the last contest, they were beaten by the last section which I coached. They have to fight. The school forced them. They got me to coach them.
With three weeks to go before the contest, I told them that the best way for them to win is to fight as a batch. One team for one batch. While the best of the seniors were perfecting their piece, I was conducting an audition for the third year. I told them that we shall use the piece “I am a Filipino” of Carlos P Romulo previously use by the first section. The students protested, they said it was not a good piece. I told them “we shall interpret it in a new way.”
I updated the essay. Romulo ended his in our liberation from the japanese. I continued the story. I added the first quarter storm, the martial law, and the march of the people towards EDSA.
I have to make the students believe that what we are doing is not just for pride, not just for winning. Whatever we do, we do it to undestand to have a beeter view of ourselves.
So instead of practicing at once, I lectured them on the history of the Philippines. They have to undestand everything before they can internalize a role. They have to know the feeling of a peace –loving native when the conquerors went inside his house, plundered their cofffers, raped his mother and sisters, and killed his father. A girl has to feel the suffering of the nun when the japanese soldiers, one after the other, shattered her purity and dreams. They have to understand why the mass has to rally against its leaders and eventually toppled down the dictatorship. They have to understand why they have to present the piece to the people.
After three weeks of daily practice, sometimes ending until 8 pm, the morning of the contest came. I requested the students not to watch the other groups. They will be the last to present. I ask them to always be together. Not to practice anymore but just to be together in a room.
I have seen everything. True to expectation all the five groups were great. The seniors were even better than the first time. When it was about time for the group to present, I told them that whatever will be the result of the contest, they have already won. The lessons that we learned together as a team is bigger than the trophy they will receive. For more than anyone else, they know that this will be an expereince we shall never forget. “just give it your best shot! Then we prayed.
I cannot tell you how they presented, ladies and gentlemen. I can only say that the audience laughed, fell into complete silence, cried, felt pride when the students sang the national anthem in Spanish, English, then in Filipino. The students recived the standing ovation they never expected.
Just give it your best shot! Until now ladies and gentlemen, every time I meet any of the student who was in that group still remembers it. Just give it your best shot! Every time we are together, say in a birthday party of one, they would always talk about what and how it happened. They never get tired of it. Because we all know, on that they, we had proven that is an opinion, not a fact. It is an illusion, not a reality. Whe someone gives his best shot, impossible becomes nothing.
After the result of the contest was announced, it was the student’s time to cry. Their parents, who for so many times discouraged them to attend our practices, embraced their children, so much proud of what they have seen. I, too, am so proud of them.
Since October 16, 1996 until June 14, 2004, ladies and gentlemen, I have seen a thousand of ugly things about teaching. Maybe, more than enough for other souls to search for another profession. I am not saying that the other profession is less noble. Much more, I am not saying that I am one of the greatest teacher you have ever seen. Far from it ladies and gentlemen.
What I have been saying is this: I am a teacher because I am a molder of dreams. I make every student reach hope for tomorrow by believing today. I did not write a book. I did not command an army. I did not I did not build an empire. I did not do those things which accompany greatness.
I, like your teachers of long ago, see not the coal, but the diamond in each of the students. These diamonds are my reasons to stay teaching in high school.
Jef Menguin
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops in Metro Manila, Philippines. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Magic of Thinking Big
What is the difference between an ordinary and an extraordinary man? The successful and the failures? The winners and the losers? The rich and the poor ones?
Recently, I read a book by Schwartz entitled the Magic of Thinking Big. The book explained why few men are winners and most of us are losers. While reading the book, I cannot but agree to the thesis of the author. I have observed this myself in my daily dealings with people.
In the classroom, I know that many of the students simply aim to get a decent grade of 85. That is their ideal grade. Some others aim to get a passing grade. At the end of the quarter, they pray the teacher will give "consideration" for them who volunteered to keep the blackboard clean. Very few aim for the 90's. They are usually the best of the class. Some teachers call them big dreamers. That of course, is an overstatement.
It is not uncommon among teachers to teach that students should get high grades in elementary to prepare themselves for high school, to get high grades in high school so that they will be accepted in a good college, to get through college so that they will get a good job. A good job is security. At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with this. I believe, most of us are educated this way.
At second glance though, we may ask “how many have security, at least, financial security, these days?’
Thanks God, there are some people who did not allow their education dwarf their future. I had a student whose name is Erwin. One Saturday afternoon, after their CAT training he engaged me in a chitchat. He had some questions about the Philippines and the lot of the poor in this country. Most of my students know that I was a student activist. So, I explained to him the boxed answer activists mastered--that it is not the fault of the poor that they are poor--some people called politicians and capitalists keep them so. However, Erwin has another point of view. He said the poor are poor because they do not want to become rich, they are just contented with their lives and most of them are lazy. I volunteered that farmers and laborers are not lazy but they are still poor. He countered that his ancestors who belong to the first generation of Chinese in the Philippines were also poor when they set foot on this land, but they did not stay that way. There must be something wrong with the Filipinos. Foreigners are reeking profits here.
I felt that although Erwin has good points, he still does not know much about life and politics. When I asked him about his goal in studying, he told me this--"Sir, as you can see I am very interested with computers. Nevertheless, I do not excel in your subject or any other subjects. I am not bothered. To become an honor student is the least of my concerns. What I want is to have my own business even before I graduate in ADMU. Since first year high school, I have been saving a portion of my allowance so that I will have a starting capital when I decide to build my business. I want a good life. I study not for the sake of studying but for the sake of that good life."
I wonder until now how many of my students, before and after Erwin, think beyond the daily struggles of homework and quizzes. How many of them have dreams? How many of them dared to think big and started to fulfill their dreams? I hope Erwin is NOT a rare species.
Erwin is right. Most people are poor, failures, and small because they are not capable of dreaming big! Not only that, some of them do not even have their own dreams.
This happened when was in first year high. Every 5 o’ clock in the morning, I sell newspapers to one busy road in Antipolo. The place is usually crowded with commuters who work in Metro Manila and nearby towns. Many of them became my suki. Until one day, someone grab from me my monopoly of the place. He is an ugly competition. He overtook me every time someone intended to buy from me and he captured my suki by offering them something good to their ears. Puwedeng utang. They would pay only on the 15th and the 30th of the month. Eventually, he drove me away from the place.
I had to expand my market. I entered subdivisions and squatter areas to sell more. I did! Yes, and I sold twice as much. When my competition learned about it... once again, he conquered my market with his tricks.
That was more than fifteen years ago. Last year, I was buying a copy of the Inquirer when the “newspaper boy” spoke. "Buti ka pa Lito, sinuwerte ka. Buti ka pa ang layo-layo na nang narating mo." Lito. I used that name only once. That was when I was selling newspapers. Then I recognized the man. He looked very old and sickly. In his eyes, I saw sadness, a kind of pity for himself.
That man when I was small, fellow toastmasters, had only one dream: to conquer my market. When I stopped selling newspapers, he became contented with his market. On that busy road, he is the king until now, but it is very evident that he is not happy!
He attributed what I have reached to luck--pure luck. No ladies and gentlemen. What ever I am now is a product of that dream I was starting to realize even before I was selling newspapers. When he was dreaming to grab my suki, I was dreaming to create jobs for my suki. When he was dreaming to get my bigger market, the house owners in subdivisions and “house owners” in the squatters area, I was dreaming to help people build their own decent houses. When he was dreaming of a good profit, I was dreaming to profit a good life…a life of significance.
He said, ang layo layo na ng narating mo. He has a limited imagination, fellow toastmasters. I am not even halfway through my dream.
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow toastmasters, the difference between an ordinary and an extraordinary man, the successful and the failures ones, the winners and the losers, the rich and the poor is not education, race or creed. It is our ability to think big. It is our capability to dream big and our willingness to give in to that desire to fulfill it. If you have that ability, you are blessed. Share that! Be a blessing to others!
Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy because, like Erwin, I too think big.
Jef Menguin
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
Recently, I read a book by Schwartz entitled the Magic of Thinking Big. The book explained why few men are winners and most of us are losers. While reading the book, I cannot but agree to the thesis of the author. I have observed this myself in my daily dealings with people.
In the classroom, I know that many of the students simply aim to get a decent grade of 85. That is their ideal grade. Some others aim to get a passing grade. At the end of the quarter, they pray the teacher will give "consideration" for them who volunteered to keep the blackboard clean. Very few aim for the 90's. They are usually the best of the class. Some teachers call them big dreamers. That of course, is an overstatement.
It is not uncommon among teachers to teach that students should get high grades in elementary to prepare themselves for high school, to get high grades in high school so that they will be accepted in a good college, to get through college so that they will get a good job. A good job is security. At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with this. I believe, most of us are educated this way.
At second glance though, we may ask “how many have security, at least, financial security, these days?’
Thanks God, there are some people who did not allow their education dwarf their future. I had a student whose name is Erwin. One Saturday afternoon, after their CAT training he engaged me in a chitchat. He had some questions about the Philippines and the lot of the poor in this country. Most of my students know that I was a student activist. So, I explained to him the boxed answer activists mastered--that it is not the fault of the poor that they are poor--some people called politicians and capitalists keep them so. However, Erwin has another point of view. He said the poor are poor because they do not want to become rich, they are just contented with their lives and most of them are lazy. I volunteered that farmers and laborers are not lazy but they are still poor. He countered that his ancestors who belong to the first generation of Chinese in the Philippines were also poor when they set foot on this land, but they did not stay that way. There must be something wrong with the Filipinos. Foreigners are reeking profits here.
I felt that although Erwin has good points, he still does not know much about life and politics. When I asked him about his goal in studying, he told me this--"Sir, as you can see I am very interested with computers. Nevertheless, I do not excel in your subject or any other subjects. I am not bothered. To become an honor student is the least of my concerns. What I want is to have my own business even before I graduate in ADMU. Since first year high school, I have been saving a portion of my allowance so that I will have a starting capital when I decide to build my business. I want a good life. I study not for the sake of studying but for the sake of that good life."
I wonder until now how many of my students, before and after Erwin, think beyond the daily struggles of homework and quizzes. How many of them have dreams? How many of them dared to think big and started to fulfill their dreams? I hope Erwin is NOT a rare species.
Erwin is right. Most people are poor, failures, and small because they are not capable of dreaming big! Not only that, some of them do not even have their own dreams.
This happened when was in first year high. Every 5 o’ clock in the morning, I sell newspapers to one busy road in Antipolo. The place is usually crowded with commuters who work in Metro Manila and nearby towns. Many of them became my suki. Until one day, someone grab from me my monopoly of the place. He is an ugly competition. He overtook me every time someone intended to buy from me and he captured my suki by offering them something good to their ears. Puwedeng utang. They would pay only on the 15th and the 30th of the month. Eventually, he drove me away from the place.
I had to expand my market. I entered subdivisions and squatter areas to sell more. I did! Yes, and I sold twice as much. When my competition learned about it... once again, he conquered my market with his tricks.
That was more than fifteen years ago. Last year, I was buying a copy of the Inquirer when the “newspaper boy” spoke. "Buti ka pa Lito, sinuwerte ka. Buti ka pa ang layo-layo na nang narating mo." Lito. I used that name only once. That was when I was selling newspapers. Then I recognized the man. He looked very old and sickly. In his eyes, I saw sadness, a kind of pity for himself.
That man when I was small, fellow toastmasters, had only one dream: to conquer my market. When I stopped selling newspapers, he became contented with his market. On that busy road, he is the king until now, but it is very evident that he is not happy!
He attributed what I have reached to luck--pure luck. No ladies and gentlemen. What ever I am now is a product of that dream I was starting to realize even before I was selling newspapers. When he was dreaming to grab my suki, I was dreaming to create jobs for my suki. When he was dreaming to get my bigger market, the house owners in subdivisions and “house owners” in the squatters area, I was dreaming to help people build their own decent houses. When he was dreaming of a good profit, I was dreaming to profit a good life…a life of significance.
He said, ang layo layo na ng narating mo. He has a limited imagination, fellow toastmasters. I am not even halfway through my dream.
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow toastmasters, the difference between an ordinary and an extraordinary man, the successful and the failures ones, the winners and the losers, the rich and the poor is not education, race or creed. It is our ability to think big. It is our capability to dream big and our willingness to give in to that desire to fulfill it. If you have that ability, you are blessed. Share that! Be a blessing to others!
Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy because, like Erwin, I too think big.
Jef Menguin
Jef Menguin facilitates people skills seminars and teambuilding and leadership workshops. Visit his website at http://jefmenguin.com to learn more about his seminars.
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