Ru Whim

Senior year of high school, I had the honor of meeting a woman who would teach me how to look at the world for what it truly is. Serving as both my homeroom and English teacher, Kristinna Abalos was not what most people would consider a “normal” teacher. Being a student in Mrs. Abalos’ class was a little strange at first due to some “unconventional” methods she would use. However, despite the uniqueness of these techniques, Mrs. Abalos viewed them as necessary for student learning, and she was right.

During my time in her class, Mrs. Abalos never seemed to care about teaching as a means for students to pass a test, but teaching for the pure sake of learning. She encouraged her students to be curious and ask questions, share their opinions, use their voices, and grow as individuals. It was clear that she was the teacher and we were the students, but respect was never expected from anyone, it was earned. Everyone understood that rules were put in place for a reason, but that boundaries are okay, and everyone is responsible for their own actions and the consequences that go along with them. Mrs. Abalos held herself and her students accountable, and despite her position of authority compared to them, she treated them with respect, kindness and human decency.

Reading this, some may argue that a teacher’s job is to teach, not become friends with their students. What these people fail to realize is that friendship is not required for a person to show kindness and compassion to another human being. Showing students respect, validating their emotions and experiences, and showing them it is okay to ask for help and be vulnerable does not impede the learning process. Mrs. Abalos did not try being “cool” to gain her students’ approval. She taught them that it is okay to be human and encouraged them to be themselves by leading by example. At the end of the day, the class I took with Mrs. Abalos was not just an English class. It was a place where my peers and I felt safe and where we learned about life. Teachers do not simply teach a curriculum and get students to pass a test. They are the ones that prepare us for life and help us grow.

It is too often that society forgets about the impact that teachers have on their students. Our parents may be the ones that raise us, but teachers are the ones we see everyday without fail. When we eventually breakdown, as we always do, they are the ones that give up whatever “free time” they have left to sit with us while we cry. They are the ones giving up their lunch break, which has already been turned into a planning period, to listen to us vent, or to celebrate our accomplishments, no matter how small they may be. The ones cheering us on at games are the same ones that end up staying up late grading and lesson planning to try and give us the best chance at success that they can provide. Teachers do not “just teach.” They help mold us into the people we become, and they do so while getting less than the bare minimum in return. They are denied the resources necessary to do their job, paid extremely little, and receive little to no benefits, including the mental health resources they should, but do not, have access to for processing, coping, and treating the psychological tolls created by their job.

If asked, most people would say that Mrs. Abalos goes above and beyond what a teacher should do for their students. If it were Mrs. Abalos, she would probably say that she was doing the bare minimum. Teachers do not just teach based off a curriculum. They teach people about life. Teachers are the ones molding and fostering the people of society’s future. The current society does not seem to care about the mental health of teachers, and if teachers are not allowed to prioritize their health, students will not prioritize their own. The system prevented Mrs. Abalos from prioritizing her health while teaching, so she left. While her decision to quit is a major loss for the school she is leaving, it teaches her students another valuable life lesson: it is okay to take care of yourself. We cannot help others if we do not help ourselves. This is true for everyone, especially teachers. The administration in charge of this system needs to realize that preventing people in helping professions from helping themselves will hurt society in the long run, no matter how many pennies it saves now.