lessons learned from a new semester

today is the first day of the second semester at our school. a new semester.. a new set of faces for me to teach. in a span of a week (just about how short our sembreak was), a lot of changes have happened at school. and i do mean a lot!

for one thing, our school adopted a new scheduling scheme this semester. in order to save on energy consumption, the administration decided to implement a 4-day study week (we do not have classes on wednesdays). this meant that students (and teachers, naturally) would have to go to class earlier, have late dismissal times and shorter breaks.

then, also due to the energy conservation project of the school, almost all sections got dislodged from their usual homerooms. everyone had to readjust to their new "homes" this morning. soon, students would have to re-decorate their rooms again.. and start "owning" their rooms anew.

this sem, too, all of us teachers moved to new faculty rooms. during the break, we had to pack up all our things - books, papers, projects, and all sorts of teaching paraphernalia - and have them moved to the rooms we'd be occupying. it was a lot of work, gathering all our stuff.. sorting them, throwing out all the useless junk we've accumulated through the years.. classifying important documents and packing them.

i have to admit.. i was really disoriented when i came to school today. too many changes happened all at once. it was not totally unexpected, of course - these were all discussed with us a couple of months ago. nevertheless, it was still unnerving for me to stay at our new faculty room. i had the same chair, the same table.. and basically the same stuff.. but i was no longer at the room i've occupied for the past eight years. i was at a different place. unfamiliar. uncomfortable.

none of us welcomed all these changes with open arms. but we all knew that these had to be done to improve the management of the school. and, as in all things (particularly those that cause us great discomfort), i guess there are lessons to be learned; and here are some of them:

the less baggage you have, the easier it is to move. (Luke 12:15, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.") in my eight years' stay at our school, i'm happy to say i've not stored up *that* much junk. it was easy for me to throw away all the stuff i did not need anymore. so, when the time came for us to pack up our things and move, i had only 2 boxes and 1 bundle of books. i'm happy to say that it did not take me all that long to settle down to our new room Ü i wish i could say that of other areas in my life, too.. hehe Ü

it is difficult to move if you've already taken root. i guess what makes it hard for us to accept all these changes is the fact that we've all become attached to our usual hangouts. we were too accustomed to our surroundings. it was hard to accept all those changes because we were so used to our routines, our rooms, even our whiteboards. we were too “at home” with what we had. i am reminded of the Bible verse Rom 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” indeed, it is difficult to move to a place you have not yet considered your “home”..

change is inevitable. "the only constant thing in this world is change." so cliche.. yet so true. even our beloved faculty room was not spared from undergoing this major makeover. change excludes none of us. and yet, because "I the Lord do not change.." (Mal 3:6) we do not need to fear Ü

how you deal with change says a lot about you. there are many ways of dealing with change and uncomfortable situations: (1) blame others for what's happening; (2) gripe and complain no end about how 'different' everything feels; or (3) strive to have an open mind, see what good can be gleaned from all the changes happening around and say "I will put my trust in Him" (Heb 2:13). the choice is ours, of course.. and what we choose to do says a lot about our 'teachability' and openness, not just to circumstances, but also to God's leadings.

tomorrow, i'll be back at school. back to the unfamiliar rooms. back to teach new students. but also back to looking for the good in the changes happening all around. and back to listening to other lessons the Lord will be giving me.