Values

So who administers Carmella's exams?
I do.
And who grades her?
Me.
W-H-A-T????!!!!!

Yes, I get this horrified reaction from people every time I talk about homeschooling.

Most homeschooling parent take on the daunting task of teaching their children because they believe that learning is far more important than ranking. And so with no teaching certificates nor mentoring experience whatsoever, they embark on this journey filled with so much challenge with their hearts as their only beacon. Some have even given up their careers because their children is now the goal.

Maybe Carmella is totally different from ones coming from regular school. She may view the world differently from the next kid, choose a different tool for her art and may be lacking the sophistication or the finesse of one coming from an exclusive girl's school.

But that she can read, do multiplication and division, express her feelings in water color without art school, openly expressive of her creative mind, dance ballet, focused in spite of pressure, independent, at ease around older people, be a charming and loving grand daughter, who treasures friendships deeply and more, all of it born outside regular classroom environment, speaks much of this father's heart.

And this heart discovered it is all about our experiences and what we learned from those experiences that defines us. This is real education.

In this world where competition is fierce and has become the norm, being at the top of the heap has become, sadly, synonymous to success. And in the desperation to put ourselves there, it is often our values that takes a beating. Because of the rush, we can no longer identify with what is true and honest and find integrity a strange word.

Which is perhaps why people are so suspicious about parents homeschooling and then rating their children. Maybe because most of us now find being honest as a truly formidable task.

But when we decide on eroding our values just so we can position our children over and above the rest, no one else losses the most but them. What does that make of us, of them?

So I continue homeschooling Carmella. And surprisingly, not only does it teach her the essential, less the fun fare, but the whole exercise also teaches this father how to be true to himself.  

Are We Afraid Of Giants?

Are we afraid of giants? No, not the Gulliver sort of character but rather the breed of people deeply focused on pursuing something bigger than themselves?

Do we shy away from nobility, a class which for me, are those having a sense of cause? Are we intimidated by their selflessness because it leads us to examine our own sense of worth?

I use to feel this way until Jojo came into the picture. Better known among his friends as GKJo, Jojo has always impressed me with the work he continues to invest on Gawad Kalinga.

There is nothing that will stop him in his pursuit to make things better for his fellow man. Be it joining a marathon, a bike ride that calls attention to his work for the poor because of the livery he decided to be painted on his ride, or by any means that will highlight the mission he truly believes in.

And being the giant that he is, all that enthusiasm he carries, without fail, makes those who listen to him want to reflect on their own sense of purpose.

In the two weeks he has been here, I learned a lot about passion than I ever imagined. Jojo tore a ligament on one knee after the last marathon he joined, an agonizing act carried out for the sole purpose of bringing focus to his chosen advocacy. For a while he struggled with the question “Why?” only to smother all the doubts with “Because no one else will.”

It is a pure class act to rise above your set backs and seek out other ways to continue your work on empowering the helpless and the poor, to search for avenues on how you can bring dignity in their otherwise forgotten existence and to finally cheer them on when they rise above their poverty. This is true nobility at work.

I never had a true understanding of what passion is. I always thought that doing what makes you feel good is passion enough and so I find my biking fitting that definition.

I saw passion as exclusively about the self, confined to personal happiness. I never qualified passion as a selfless act of giving until it hurts and then still have lots of humor left. I never thought of passion as making a difference, of accomplishing work that truly matters in spite the daunting journey up ahead.

I never saw passion as a means to inspire other people to do acts of greatness.

Now I know better.