Thank You Mr. Awa

Never shall I forget English and Literature sessions under the heat of the afternoon when i was still in my younger years. This time of day would have conjured memories of the sweat trickling down my white and bland uniform or thoughts of dismissal time where more play would commence thereafter. No nada non. The biggest prints these humid moments made on my mind was of interactions with my English teacher Mr. Juanito Awa during many of his discussions in his period at this time of day. He is one of the biggest inspirations in life. I know he would never have known about this but I salute him everyday of my existence.

His position in my personal hall of Fame stems from the fact that he has made me learn to love the use of the English language as a medium of communication and as an outlet for expression because of the way he has softened the edges of an otherwise challenging proposition for many young Filipinos who usually develop stunted tongues trying to speak the language perfectly. His manner of teaching and his pleasant style of speech made it seem so easy to love the subject and to whallop my way through the difficulties of conjugation, past tenses, subject-verb agreements. Because of his personality he has kind of cultivated this gene inside my chromosomes with the disposition towards the love for English and Literature subjects.Our Literature classes never seemed like paralytic struggles unlike other English classes because of how beautifuly he presented and analyzed works of fiction together with us, his students. The discussions were just so fluid and gregarious that it was never a bore when he was at the blackboard and delivering his gospel to his students. He is prophetic!

As a result of his molding, and creation of this beautiful genetic code for the love of English inside me, it has become so easy for my future English teachers to further my mastery of the medium. I would never be able to tell you if it was my natural aptitude for the subject or because I had excellent professors but I came to embrace the language and its literature with such gusto and energy. My attention seldom wavers when it is time for this period unless the teacher was in a bad mood and was out to pulverize someone's brain. I simply was so attentive that it became a love affair which has went on for the longest time.

I know that I have no one else to express my gratitude to but this man, the family name in the title of this blog. He deserves a monument in my opinion and I think in my mind where I am mayor of my imaginary city he is an honorary citizen whose contributions towards my development and blossoming deserve no less than hundreds of gold medals and plaques which will fill up his home. Wherever you are Sir, I salute you with respect, awe and gratitude. Thank you for the memories too of those sweaty, heated yet intellectual and definitely enjoyable discussions of the distant past......