By Lilia Vengco

Teaching has always been my passion. I started teaching right after graduation many years ago. To this day, I continue to teach and share my knowledge about teaching as an art and a skill to young adults who have chosen to take the path to teaching hearts and molding young minds.

While I no longer handle regular classes, my many years of teaching and administering  have deepened my commitment to train young teachers to become better. Doing so has kept me in touch with teachers and school leaders and while I advance in age, I have kept my heart young for these groups of people who share my passion.

In my many years of being a teacher and a school administrator, I have encountered some exceptional teachers along the way who have inspired me and a few terrible ones who probably convinced  me  that I should  do better. I moved on in my chosen ministry and no matter what obstacles came my way with constant prayers I succeeded.

What a joy it is to hear former students greet me anywhere I meet them. And indeed, I meet them everywhere. I meet them when I go to the malls, in church, at the park, at the train station, on the streets, and even on an airplane. These are my rewards.

I believe that becoming an educator has to be a decision that comes from the heart. I am grateful for having been  part of the religious,  educational community of the Christian Brothers who taught me how to nurture, how to be compassionate, how to love and care for one another, and most of all how to be Christian. I treasure  all these in my heart wherever I go. What I am now is the result of the nurturing I experienced with the Christian Brothers.

As I look back and reminisce those wonderful days, I feel a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. I feel blessed for having been given the opportunity to serve others through teaching.

I strongly encourage young people to join the teaching ministry. It is such a noble vocation that is enriched by the lives of the young people it serves. Nothing is more rewarding than to see young ones grow and develop to be productive citizens and  to hear words of gratitude from young teachers and from fellow administrators who aspire to become better.

Yes, it is great to be a teacher!

Lilia Vengco is the former principal of La Salle Greenhills and the pioneering principal of La Salle Canlubang. She is a lecturer at Ahead Tutorial and Review Center and Ahead Professional Network.