A Lesson Learned

I just finished reading a John Grisham novel - Bleachers. It's a far cry from his usual courtroom drama novels or lawyer stories. It's a nice read though - a bit inspirational if I could say so. It's a close resemblance to a Mitch Albom's book entitled "Tuesdays with Morrie". The story revolved around a coach the players loathe when they play football for him, but one whom you'd end up loving. You realize that he was not only teaching courage and determination on field, but that he's actually teaching his players to face and deal with life's hardest blows.

I have had teachers like that. I don't necessarily hate them when they were my teachers, but they truly taught us a lot of wonderful things that helped us cope with college and the life thereafter. One of them passed away a few years back. She was my english teacher during my senior year in high school. I used to be a very shy girl (I know, quite unbelievable huh?!) - so quiet, timid, and naive. One thing I fear the most - speaking in front of people. You could call it a bad case of stage fright. Part of our grades is to be able to deliver speeches - oratorical, extemporaneous, and the like. You will never be able to graduate without completing them.

I don't know how she did it, but Miss C (Missed C, as she would sometimes call herself being an old maid, but which would elicit laughter from her students) encouraged us to overcome stage fright. I remembered delivering a speech about "The Good Thief" for our finals. It's a speech about one of the thieves crucified with Jesus - one who sought forgiveness with his dying breath. Almost at the end, I forgot the words - probably because of stage fright, so I made them up. My classmates applauded me, and thought I did very well. I was proud of myself. I didn't know I had it in me.

Another critical part of our grades was to keep a journal of our everyday lives, our very thoughts and feelings. It was tough at first, but I learned more and more to open up. As she went through each journal, she would scribble notes on the side, sometimes correcting the spelling or grammar. However, she was more concerned of the content than the format. She would even scribble words of wisdom, sometimes comfort if it was about a problem. It was then that I dreamt of becoming a journalist. Of course, it didn't come true, but that was another story.

From time to time, college students - those whom Miss C taught in high school, came back to school to thank her for the lessons they've learned. When I got to college, I felt I ought to do the same, but I never got around it. Until she passed away.... How I wished I told her how I valued the lessons I learned from her in class.

In college, I became a speech instructress - teaching freshmen how to enunciate words. I excelled in my English classes. I also realized that I have a knack for extemporaneous speaking. When I'm nervous, I tend to think better and faster. In fact, when I defended my thesis, I had a full panel made up of top-notch professors, including our Department Head. Need I say I aced that one? I guess they were more interested in seeing me speak than in reviewing my thesis.

On my first job, I joined Toastmasters to hone my speaking skills more. I would come in, deliver speeches, never needing to prepare for any one of those. The last speech I delivered for TM was in a competition. I was merely wearing jeans and shirt. I had no preparation whatsoever because prior to that, we were busy packing. We were moving out of the house I grew up in. I was in jeans because right after that speech, I need to head home because it was that same day that we were to move out. I was told that the speech was impeccable. I even saw tears in the audience's eyes when it was over. The judges asked for a copy of my speech. They were shocked to the core when I told them I didn't have one. It was totally impromptu.

I still miss standing in front of the public. I miss the look of admiration in my audience's eyes. It had been so long since I did that, and I'm not sure if I still had that touch in me. Miss C only taught me to overcome my stage fright, but in the process, she developed my public speaking skills. The best part of it all - she developed in me the confidence I didn't realize was there all along. The shy, timid, quiet, and naive girl is long forgotten.

Thank you Miss C. You are truly missed!