For teacher Ayeen, being a mentor to young eager minds is exciting, frightening and life-changing all at once.

For teacher Ayeen, being a mentor to young eager minds is exciting, frightening and life-changing all at once.

Renee Juliene Karunungan, 24, called Ayeen by her friends and family, teaches Literature, Grammar & Composition at Gawad Kalinga’s School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED), which started August at GK Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan.

Staying true to the GK vision-mission, SEED is a two-year program co-developed with TESDA that aims to train and nourish graduates to tackle poverty through agriculture and innovation all while uplifting the poor in the process. 

Even though it's been only two months since SEED started, Ayeen has already learned so much and continues to be inspired her students. And today, she shares her inspiring story:

Becoming a teacher was not a dream I’ve had from childhood. But having come from a family of teachers — my paternal grandmother was a home economics teacher and her siblings were all Filipino and English teachers — I guess it was, somehow, inevitable.

Growing up with my grandmother, I’ve seen how her students still remember and admire her. Some of them still even send her postcards from around the world. It warms me up inside whenever I walk with her and someone comes up to her and says, “Hi ma’am! Do you remember me? I was your student!” or, “Hi ma’am! You were my child’s teacher!” to which, my grandmother, at 91, merely smiles, trying hard to remember them from the hundreds of faces she’s taught throughout the years. And even if sometimes she fails to remember, she always proudly tells me, “That’s my student!”

I have always had a great love for teachers. I remember my teachers who have made an impression on me, not just because they taught their subjects well, but more because they taught me things beyond their subjects — they taught me about life. 

Whoever I am today is partly a product of how my teachers have molded me. And now, being a teacher myself, I have come to realize how difficult a job it is, how big the responsibility I have. And honestly, it does scare me.

Being a teacher at SEED, I have in my hands the young and idealistic, the dreamers and doers, like fresh clay that can still easily be shaped. But with each and every student waiting to become a masterpiece, I also have to be very careful, to ensure that there would be no cracks, that their foundations be strong.

The best education for the least: SEED's pioneer batch consists of 47 eager and determined students from various public schools

Having come from poor families, my students inspire me. I have never seen so much determination and hard work. They have had to fight for their education; they have had to overcome obstacles at a very young age. And I see it in their eyes, their thirst and hunger for knowledge.

They were once taught to stop dreaming because from where they come from, dreams don’t come true but because of SEED, they have learned not only to dream again, but to dream bigger dreams; to dream not only for themselves, but to dream for their community, for their country.

And as their teacher, here is what I want them to know:

Dear students,

Remember the first day of class when some of you told me that you were scared of English? That you felt you weren’t good enough? What did I tell you? That we will learn together, that I will be there every step of the way until you are able to walk on you own, but only if you promised you will also do your best.

Two months have passed and I am so proud of your improvements. You might still confuse your verb tenses and subject-verb agreements but I smile whenever your eyes light up and I see that suddenly what I have been teaching has become clear. Little moments like these make me proud and happy.

You all challenge me to do my best and I want you to know that I will never give up on anyone of you. Remember, I share in your problems as well as in your achievements, and I’m quite sure your other teachers do, too. You are worth our time, worth everything we give.

Trust me, trust us. We are on your way to the fulfillment of your dreams. And I promise you, we promise you, that we will get there, we will get there.

Love,

Ms. A

I am a teacher and I am proud to be one because of my students. Teacher’s Day is not only a celebration for teachers, it is too, a celebration of our students. For what are we without them? Maligayang araw ng mga guro!

Family photo: Ayeen [middle] stands for a group photo with her students.

Happy Teacher's Day to you as well, Ayeen! We celebrate you and all our other hardworking teachers today and every day of our lives – with the ideas we believe in, the words we speak and the goodness we give to the world. Thank you for guiding is in every step of the way!

Learn more about School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) at Gawad Kalinga's official site.