WHENEVER I see students who appear to
be simply loafing
around in school, I get challenged as to how to push these guys to the
next level. It kind of pains me to see them seemingly not knowing how
to make good use of time.
I feel somehow sorry because I know these guys have great
potentials, considering that they passed the entrance exams and went
through the battery of screening exercises that would determine
whether they have the necessary aptitude, disposition and capabilities
to tackle what we offer in school.
I imagine that the first thing to do is to pray for them
and then devise some kind of plan to get to talk to them personally.
Friendship and confidence is important in this concern because that is
how serious stuff can be effectively communicated to them.
I want to enter into their personal lives, like knowing
how they think, judge and reason out, or whether they have some
rudiments of faith and piety, or what their concerns and difficulties
are, etc.
Being a senior citizen, of course, gives me a bit of a
challenge to be able to deal with these young ones. But I just console
myself with the thought that I can be and should be the Good Shepherd
this flock needs. I just have to try my best to adapt myself to them,
not scaring them but rather attracting them.
Truth is practically all of them do not know how to handle
their own lives, much less to turn dreams into reality, or how to set
goals with their proper means. Some of them suffer some serious
distracting problems, personal, family, economic, physical, emotional,
etc., and these have to given due attention.
There are those who may have a good head but with an
attitude problem, those who appear to be nice but lazy, those who
appear to be energetic but do not think and plan things well, those
who are creative and artistic but terribly disorderly, those who are
very good in words but a failure in deeds, those who are good in the
little things but bad in the big things, and vice-versa, etc.
They all need help. They all need to be properly
motivated. They need to be shown the way to outgrow their weaknesses
and reinforce their strengths. All these can be done if there is a
working relationship among us, a relationship nourished in trust and
confidence.
We already have a mentoring system where every student is
attended to by a mentor. The idea is to know the student well and help
him in whatever problem he may have that is other than just academic.
Of course, the mentors also have to be properly supervised so they can
carry out their task well.
Students need to be constantly motivated and helped to
overcome their difficulties. They have to be encouraged to take on
bigger responsibilities. They need to be taught how to deal with their
problems and even their failures, and how to move on without spending
too much time brooding or regretting over their mistakes.
It's important that they are shown and that they get
enthused with possible new horizons and new frontiers, after
considering their capabilities. Some of them are actually native
geniuses in computers, a rich ore that needed to be processed and
polished.
They have to be prepared for the future whose temper can
already be discerned through the present trends. Thus, it is good to
encourage them to dream and to dream big, reassuring them that if they
trust in God and if they do their part, their dreams will even fall
short.
In this regard, I get very excited when I discover a
possible vocation to the priesthood. Yes, even in this unlikely
environment of a technical school, a priestly vocation can still be
found, validating my belief that God can call anyone to the priesthood
anywhere anytime.
Most of all, I see to it that they acquire a healthy and
working spiritual life, a life of piety nourished in prayer and
sacrifice, in recourse to the sacraments and study of the faith, and
in an abiding struggle for virtues and against weaknesses and
temptations.
They need to get convinced that in the end and always, it
is the spiritual life that matters most because it is what would
relate and bring them to their eternal destination. All the other
aspects of life are simply secondary and instrumental in character.
Once they get this point, I feel reassured they can handle
anything in life.
around in school, I get challenged as to how to push these guys to the
next level. It kind of pains me to see them seemingly not knowing how
to make good use of time.
I feel somehow sorry because I know these guys have great
potentials, considering that they passed the entrance exams and went
through the battery of screening exercises that would determine
whether they have the necessary aptitude, disposition and capabilities
to tackle what we offer in school.
I imagine that the first thing to do is to pray for them
and then devise some kind of plan to get to talk to them personally.
Friendship and confidence is important in this concern because that is
how serious stuff can be effectively communicated to them.
I want to enter into their personal lives, like knowing
how they think, judge and reason out, or whether they have some
rudiments of faith and piety, or what their concerns and difficulties
are, etc.
Being a senior citizen, of course, gives me a bit of a
challenge to be able to deal with these young ones. But I just console
myself with the thought that I can be and should be the Good Shepherd
this flock needs. I just have to try my best to adapt myself to them,
not scaring them but rather attracting them.
Truth is practically all of them do not know how to handle
their own lives, much less to turn dreams into reality, or how to set
goals with their proper means. Some of them suffer some serious
distracting problems, personal, family, economic, physical, emotional,
etc., and these have to given due attention.
There are those who may have a good head but with an
attitude problem, those who appear to be nice but lazy, those who
appear to be energetic but do not think and plan things well, those
who are creative and artistic but terribly disorderly, those who are
very good in words but a failure in deeds, those who are good in the
little things but bad in the big things, and vice-versa, etc.
They all need help. They all need to be properly
motivated. They need to be shown the way to outgrow their weaknesses
and reinforce their strengths. All these can be done if there is a
working relationship among us, a relationship nourished in trust and
confidence.
We already have a mentoring system where every student is
attended to by a mentor. The idea is to know the student well and help
him in whatever problem he may have that is other than just academic.
Of course, the mentors also have to be properly supervised so they can
carry out their task well.
Students need to be constantly motivated and helped to
overcome their difficulties. They have to be encouraged to take on
bigger responsibilities. They need to be taught how to deal with their
problems and even their failures, and how to move on without spending
too much time brooding or regretting over their mistakes.
It's important that they are shown and that they get
enthused with possible new horizons and new frontiers, after
considering their capabilities. Some of them are actually native
geniuses in computers, a rich ore that needed to be processed and
polished.
They have to be prepared for the future whose temper can
already be discerned through the present trends. Thus, it is good to
encourage them to dream and to dream big, reassuring them that if they
trust in God and if they do their part, their dreams will even fall
short.
In this regard, I get very excited when I discover a
possible vocation to the priesthood. Yes, even in this unlikely
environment of a technical school, a priestly vocation can still be
found, validating my belief that God can call anyone to the priesthood
anywhere anytime.
Most of all, I see to it that they acquire a healthy and
working spiritual life, a life of piety nourished in prayer and
sacrifice, in recourse to the sacraments and study of the faith, and
in an abiding struggle for virtues and against weaknesses and
temptations.
They need to get convinced that in the end and always, it
is the spiritual life that matters most because it is what would
relate and bring them to their eternal destination. All the other
aspects of life are simply secondary and instrumental in character.
Once they get this point, I feel reassured they can handle
anything in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment