Sir Nonoy - My Teacher, My Hero

This post is in celebration of Teachers' Month (September 5 -October 5). UNESCO in 1993, inaugurated World Teachers' Day to celebrate, who else, teachers and their most important role to guide young and old alike in the life-long learning process.

Image taken from the web



This may sound cliche but I owe huge part of who I am today to my teachers. My view on things were in part influenced by these selfless individuals who imparted their knowledge to all of us - in the name of service and sheer love of teaching. I'm writing this short but sincere post straight from my Ina-Tay heart way before October 5th, for the fear that I might get too busy and completely forget.

If you were to ask me who my favorite teacher would be - I will be able to answer you without batting an eyelash. It would be Jose Ma. Y. Tomacruz or just simply "Sir Nonoy" to us his students. He was my instructor in Philosophy 103 (Introduction to Philosophy) at Ateneo de Davao University. I took up MassComm and Philo was among our minor subjects. I'm the kind of student who usually gives half a heart with minor subjects so I can focus more on my majors. But in his Philo class, it was short of impossible to be a half-hearted student and pass. Apart from his imposing physique, I vividly remember our first day of class where he entered the classroom and gave a boisterous "Good morning class!" We sat straight like scared first graders as he proceeded to introduce himself. He then gave a litany of requirements and rules and expectations. I told myself this class surely will not be a piece of cake. To get an idea what I mean click his online syllabus (thanks to all-knowing  Google!).

 Apart from the "general themes of human understanding/knowledge; human freedom and its related topics like subjectivity, search for existential meaning, and the like; and human relatedness" that we delved in class, Sir Nonoy required of us Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Willian Luijpen's Subjectivity and Freedom, Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl and other philosophical readings that have caused me a few episodes of temporary brain paralysis. But there were also times when we would watch films and read lighter books like M. Scott Peck's Road Less Travelled which became one of my all-time favorites.

As in any other class we had oral recitations and we were required to write our reflections on a close-gapped note filler. His instructions were plain and simple - in order to earn a grade we have to write an entire page, that means until the very last line. There was no escape because we all knew Sir Nonoy is going to read each of our fillers. Those who dared to defy repeated the subject the following semester.

His no-nonsense approach to teaching taught me valuable lessons, first and foremost - hard work. Sir Nonoy, in our first class meeting informed us that if we can manage to get good grades in the prelims and midterms, we have the option not to take the final exam. So I read and digested all the required readings and made sure I wrote good reflections on my filler mainly to pass and second to be exempted from the finals. Despite the hectic schedules and conflicting deadlines I had to make sure I was ready for his class. He also trained us to be intellectually curious, mentally tough and confident especially during oral recitations where even the coolest and I-don't-care-if-I-fail students give the library a rare visit to prepare for Sir Nonoy's questions. Whenever he feels you are not sure of your answer, he would stir your brain all the more by asking follow-up questions and the dreaded "are you sure???". A few of my so-called cool classmates endured more than 15 minutes of questioning until Sir Nonoy is satisfied or have had enough of their feigned intelligence.

All my late nights were rewarded when he posted the list of exempted students one week before the finals and my name was on the list! Hardwork does pay-off! All the training I got everytime my name was called to answer prepared me to be tough and confident when I became a professional and had to stick to my guns when challenged. Being his student helped me to broaden my views, to respect others no matter how much their opinons conflict with mine and to live life to the fullest because everything has its definitive conclusion. As a teacher, Sir Nonoy imparted to me not only his knowledge but also life lessons that beyond doubt saw me through to a lot of tough times. To you Sir Nonoy, thank you very much for being a participant of my learning process, which is still on-going by the way; for being the teacher who trains not only the head but the heart and hands as well.

I've never watched "The Truman Show" the same way again after that very healthy discussion with the class.

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." - Plato