I have always wanted to write this article, but I never had the chance to put my thoughts together. It is only when I realized, the opening of the semester would be the best time to share this thought to everyone.
I am only but a young educator. I do not even have my Master’s degree in field. I only manage to enroll a few units per semester but never really had the chance to go for it at full blast. I have been teaching college students for barely 4 years, almost. I am a very young educator indeed. And most of these years are done in a classroom setting. I do not have the experience as compared to those have spent half of their lives sharing their knowledge and skills. (I salute you! You are noble by heart.) I do not even see myself teaching for my entire lifetime though teaching is my passion, my life. Yet, I would like to share some thoughts I have in mind.
In everyday of our lives, a lot of us have experienced failure. It may be failure in love, in the family, failure in the board exams or even failure in the subjects that we have enrolled. Some of us are shattered by these failures and our dreams are all at a lost. And then we realize failure is inevitable.
In a 4 hour class that I am handling this semester, all of them have failed in a prerequisite subject. And maybe this is the reason that I am writing today. We may say that this failure is not inevitable because such failure is caused by carelessness and laziness, but each has a story to tell. I do not want to hear the story because it is none of my priorities. I am here as an educator but not a newsmaker.
But why do we fail? Are we to blame? Who is to blame? Why can we not get through our experiences without failing? Why do we need to endure the pain, the suffering, the intimidation and the discrimination?
I have always believed that failure is a subjective word that is why I made the title of this article as Quantity versus Quality. We fail, not because we did not make our best efforts but probably because our efforts are not enough. But is this the gauge of our failure?
A few years back, there was once a student who asked me why I gave her 99 in one of the subjects that she has enrolled in my class. Another student asked me why I gave her 64. These are two students in two different classes. Let’s call the first student, Student 99 and the other Student 64 respectively. I told Student 99, “Why are you asking me this question, Student 99? Are you not happy with your grade? I believe you deserve it because you got perfect scores in all your exams. Is there anything wrong?” Student 99 has been a very bright student and so I was surprised to see her question her grade. Perfect scores all the way! Student 64 said, “Ma’am I think I deserve better because I come to class everyday and never interrupts in your class. I get good grades sometimes but mostly failed exams, but 64 is not a grade. Maybe you can do something about it?” Student 64 is really like that, does not come to class, failed first grading to the final grading period. It was a difficult situation at that moment. I do not know what to do, one student questioning her capacity for a high grade and the other questioning her own failed actions. I then asked for guidance and realized what to do. I told them, “Ask yourself. What is the most relevant concept that you have learned this semester during my class?” Student 99 said, “A lot, I cannot even imagined how it got all to my head. It was an excellent class Ma’am and I owe it all to you.” I said, “Now you know why you got 99. How about you Student 64? “A lot also Ma’am, but most of it, I cannot explain. But ma’am I have my complete attendance.” Then I replied; “Well now you know why you got 64.”
Failure is subjective as I have said; it is not the quantity but the quality. You may have been there all the time but were you productive? It does not matter if you get 75 but as long as in your heart, you know that you have learned a lot, it does not matter. Numbers are just numbers and this is what complicates our human life. The amount of time spent is not equal to the amount quality you have shared.
In our 8 hour work, have we ever asked ourselves, have we ever utilized 8 hour productively or just let is pass in a snap? That’s quality versus quantity.
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