“This is my 45th year [in teaching] and I’ll be retiring soon. This is my last school year [in UST].”
“What makes you stay in the profession?”
“Maraming advantages, marami akong nakikita [like] the transformation of the students from the first year [when] they were so naive, to the fourth year [na] parang they have learned so much in the four years of [studying] in UST. […] And ako, ang vocation ko talaga, teaching. When I was still in high school, I would tutor my nieces and nephews in their lessons and that makes me happy.”
“How has teaching changed your life?”
“It makes me ageless. I’m 64 and I’m turning 65 in four months. May mga tao, they’re always telling me, ‘Oh, you don’t look like one.’ If I ask them to guess my age, it’s only between 40 to 55. Maski nga sa pila sa Senior Citizens, pinapaalis ako. ‘Hindi po kayo dyan.’ Sabi ko, ‘Hindi, dito ako e.’”
– Consuelo Gotauco, Associate Professor, College of Science, Math and Physics Department
Interview by SYRAH VIVIEN J. INOCENCIO and JULIA MARI T. ORNEDO
Photo by ANA BARBARA S. SAN DIEGO
This interview is part of Faces of Dapitan Special: Anecdotes from the Academics done by Flame staffers in line with the celebration of National Teachers’ Month.
