A Lesson in Humility

I learned something during the course of my dissertation writing. It's about the virtue of humility.

I'm not the type of person who usually asks for help from others. Lately I learned that it's nice to have people cheering you on. It makes hard tasks much more bearable.

I also learned that I'm my own worst critic and enemy. Sometimes I tend to impose such a tall standard on myself that I barely get to do it. The result: HARDLY ANY WORK DONE!!!

It also pays to follow the ways of established scholars. They know more that I do so it's wise to learn and follow them. When the time comes when I 'm good enough I can have my way.

Dissertation writing is such a humbling experience. For now I better keep my head down and go with the flow.

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Illustration Cited:

http://www.zindamagazine.com

A Challenge to Paper Presenters

My abstract's acceptance to the 8th ASEAN University Seminar in 2008 is a breakthrough in my scholarly activities. I am slowly growing to become an independent scholar. Someday I aspire to come up with innovative ideas that can make this world a better place.

As I was reading through the compilation of abstracts I noticed that majority of the papers were quantitative researches. Quantitative research uses hard facts to support its claims. Such research is intended to describe certain state of affairs.

While I have nothing against quantitative research I feel that it is quite limiting. Quantitative research is descriptive by nature so much of it is devoted to data interpretation. A conference seeking to promote solidarity among nations should focus more on new ways of thinking.

Quantitative researches on the other hand focus more on arguments. It also makes use of examples but only to emphasize certain points. These types of researches seeks to convince people to see things in a different light.


Some scholars may fume at such a simplistic view of research. Despite whatever criticisms my views entail I only wish to drive a single point. Scholars gather in a conference in order to espouse and deliberate on new ideas to address certain problems.

Peter Smith in his essay "Getting Published" has insightful ideas regarding problems with some scholars' works. He said that some scholars get too hooked on data analysis and literature reviews that they leave only a page or two for presenting new ideas.

Organizers spent lots of effort to bring together the best and brightest ideas they deemed worthy to be discussed in a public fora. Other scholars travel great distances just to hear their peers speak. Paper presenters should make their peers' and organizers' efforts worthwhile by advancing ideas worth pondering on.

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Illustrations Cited:

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/m/motifs.asp

http://www.atpm.com/9.10/design.shtml

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/perry032/impossible/cat_grad_student_life.html

Why I Love Teaching

A few days ago I just finished my classes this summer and I am now in a long hiatus to finish my dissertation. It's funny how you come to think of the most unusual things when you're not doing much. Perhaps it's because one's mind tends to wander when one gets bored with the daily grind.

I never seriously asked myself before why I love teaching but it all became clear to me one day when I was cleaning my room. As I was filing my records from last summer's class I took notice of the index cards my students submitted in class. Memories of last summer filled my head with the happy moments we shared at the time. I really can't believe that it's all over and that I will not be able to be with my students again.

Why do I feel this way? We were only acquainted for a month but why do I miss my students? What have they done for me to feel a great yearning for them? Is this yearning related to the job of teaching or the company of being with students?

The answer to all these questions is quite simple. I miss and yearn for my students because I love them and that loving someone does not require a reason for it to exist. It's just the way it is. It may sound cheesy but a perceptive student once wrote that I treat students as if they were my friends. How true. Every time I enter the classroom I don't see students in there but young peers or siblings. My main job there is to teach them to be good people and nothing more. When the semester ends and I see an improvement (no matter how little) in the way how they think and act then I will be very happy. Though such things are quite different to quantify by usual methods all it takes is some sensitivity and a little intuition for one to determine if you've made a mark. Though I am not sure if all my classes are successful in achieving my goals but seeing 2 or 3 students improve for the better is good enough for me. Rome wasn't built in a day after all.

The reason why I love teaching is because it gives me an opportunity to be with such young people. I am very happy why I'm with them. I always make it a point to challenge them in every way both intellectually and physically because it is a way of making them think big. This is the reason why it's common to see me competing in brawn with many of my students because I want them to learn confidence in dealing with people. There's no better way of developing confidence than in a competition.

I'm really grateful that I was given a chance to become a teacher. Someday I'll return to being one when everything is in order. For now I pray that the Almighty may keep my "dears" safe and that they may be properly guided even when I'm not around. Someday in their own good time they may be able to do things that can make this world a better place.