In the four corners of a well-lighted room with a dusted chalk board and seatmates fully immersed in their daydreams, there is one shone figure — a nurturing character to some, and a perpetually unsung hero to many.
Their strict demeanors conceal a sheath of hope, a denial of the seemingly “just” unjust system, but their shadows proclaim a different story. Educators are victims of oppression: debased and hegemonized — reduced wages, diminishing resources, and held down propositions to oust the deceptive comfort of corruption; yet their vocation to aid ignorance remains interminable. Their vision to subdue the prevailing bourgeoisie propels through their roles in our society. Nurturing to some, like a mother bird who quenches the thirst to learn, and an unsung hero to many, like a man of courage who defends his students from the despair of a struggling country.
But above all for them, the mark of their values instilled to every crevice on the crying land is much prioritised. Strike through vengeance, their desire to fight off the absence of reason and the lack of prowess is their version of a holy grail. Not merely a career, but a walk of life. Not just a source of profit, but a fount of copious fate.
Their duties go beyond the red marks on our paper; without the intent to grow a tree out of a person, the title educator does not apply. As is our nature, we are very limited, but their voices echo to the one’s along the hem of a long skirt. Perhaps the word “inspire” is an understatement, to my eyes, teachers are enkindling — they resensitize the dozing patriot within us, and rehumanize the forgotten devout.
Our triumphs mirror their vigour; that as we stand with a white collar, the marks of their ingenuity are planted to the preceding bloodline — that the wisdom they imparted shall be honoured and bequeathed to the youths of tomorrow.
Arriving at the end of this prose, may I take a portion of your sentience — each time you set foot off the four corners of this room, make it a habit to look back. Look back to the efforts they have persisted. Discern the sentiments lying behind their stern facade, and commit to the sagacious role they carry on because the best way to reward them is to live in integrity; and as witnesses of their dedication to the society, do you also pledge to preserve a life of honesty? That by the frequency of opportunities to take the instantaneous way to succeed, would you stand by the seeds of their values, or would you rather seize the flourishing roots of your neighbor?
But do I beg you to remember, as our professors loathe the perfidious, roguish human propensities, I hope you would always choose the former, for the heart of worldly iniquities begins at the simplest pleasures of corruption.