Imagine a world without teachers, a world without knowledge distributors; it would be less developed and uncultivated, there would be nothing like technology or perhaps the fanatics of politicians. We want to learn, we want to educate ourselves and we want to advance; that’s why man’s endeavors to learn have encompassed a wide variety of domains in life, which have been successfully taught by teachers. Even though teaching is the fundamental of all the professions on earth, it is disgraceful that some politicians fail to acknowledge individuals in this field. Teaching has been a source of my leadership as an individual amidst a lot of sociopolitical injustice in my country.
Picture: My students and I just after their first Word Exams
My personality as an individual has been shaped by five important virtues I learned while volunteering as a teacher in Gate Inc. University.
I LEARNED TO WORK IN AN OFFICE.
With an organization as big as Gate Inc., there is need to successfully master the processes and systems of the organization. As a result, respect is an invaluable tool that I needed to fully transcend through every hierarchy while performing my duties. There were times when I had to collaborate with my colleagues to get work done. Collaborations ranged from arranging and keeping the workspace clean to discussing issues related to the growth of the organization. My work greatly affected my personality because in addition to the respect I offered my colleagues and the teamwork I displayed, my organizational skills kept me composed and able to partake in a variety of activities.
I LEARNED TO MANAGE
I was good at what I did mainly because I made it a priority to effectively manage individuals. I often had individuals to attend to, machines to repair and maintain, and time to adjust to. Individuals came from varied backgrounds: some passive and others active, some negative and others at extremes. But it was my duty to manage these sets of individuals so that no one is out in the blue. The machines were never easy either, so it called for patience to deal with them. Scrolling, installing, repairing and maintaining these machines was a lot to deal with, but I made it a priority to get things done properly. I was not only committed to managing individuals and the computers, but I also made it my responsibility to always be timely and punctual.
I LEARNED TO LOVE
I believe that it is easy to love what you do, by first loving the individuals under your tutelage. This is exactly the character I portrayed before my students. I loved and knew each one of them by name and I knew their strengths and weaknesses in class. This helped me to know how to go about my lessons. As a leader, love is crucial; if you don’t love then you can’t lead. Whenever some individuals in the class spoke rudely to me, this virtue helped me to control myself and still deliver my lessons completely.
I LEARNED TO BE HUMBLE
Humility is something every leader should cultivate. It helps leaders learn because I learned a lot from the students I taught. I learned how to structure sentences, how to pronounce some words, how to effectively carry out my lessons and many other things. I also learned from the Human Resource Officer to think critically, which actually meant doing the same thing in different ways and expecting different and advanced outcomes. Humility equals knowledge and whether I liked it or not, I learned from everyone I submitted to and this improved the quality of my work.
I LEARNED TO BE PATIENT AND WORK HARD
Paul Freeman in the film “High Strung” said, “…It’s our imperfection that keeps us alive, motivating us to push further and further...” I wanted to be perfect in what I did. As a result, hard work was evident in everything I did; be it the machines I attended to, the individuals I managed or the sleepless nights I spent arranging befitting exams for my students: I knew it was all going to pay off. However, it took patience to get great outcomes and since I wanted to achieve success, I needed to continue working hard.
First Picture: Preparing a report for the students’ scores in their Final exams.
Second Picture: My First lesson. Third Picture: I am fitting a RAM into this Pentium 4 machine.
Doubtlessly, I remember the sleepless nights I had because I wanted to prepare lessons for my students; I remember sleeping on the office sofa because I hadn’t had enough sleep the previous night; I remember staying overtime in the office in order to carry out tasks. What was all this for? I needed to prepare myself and I equally wanted to grow, I wanted to equip and empower myself to become the leader I am today. I wanted to advance in my knowledge; I wanted to be part of something and I wanted to learn the virtues of leadership. This volunteering experience has not only shaped me, but it has molded me into a dynamic person. Are you wondering where Open Dreams comes in? You definitely should. A remarkable organization like Open Dreams gave me the knowledge and skills that forged me ahead to volunteer at Gate Inc. University.