Many kids would say they want to become a doctor, engineer or pilot but Angela Onoja chose teaching right from childhood.
Speaking with Muse.ng, the young lady said she loves the idea of teaching and she’s glad that her goal was achieved.
Angela, who has been teaching for over five years teaches elementary grades and she said her profession is a challenging one.
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In her words: “It takes your time, energy and it is emotionally draining.
“Teaching drains you so much that even when you are outside the classroom, you are continuously thinking of ways to make your learners better or make your next lesson more interesting.”
According to the young teacher, daily aim to deliver an excellent lesson is challenging.
Finding fulfillment
She said teaching allows her to impart knowledge and that gives her ‘premium joy’.
In her words: “As a teacher, seeing the big smile on my students’ faces whenever they understand something makes me very glad.
“The realisation that they look up to me to know something new brings a good feeling. I am fulfilled knowing that whatever I teach eventually shapes them into becoming of great value to the society.”
Angela said if she wasn’t teaching, she would be a customer service representative because that’s something she loves to do.
Low pay for teachers
Teachers are one of the least paid professionals in Nigeria and Angela said at a point in her life she considered quitting the profession because of this.
She said: “It is heartbreaking putting your energy into shaping lives and giving your best to see the kids better and at the end of the month, it is hard taking care of your needs.
“The pay teacher gets isn’t worth the amount of work they do. That’s sad.”
She said despite the popular saying that teachers’ reward is in heaven, they should also be rewarded on earth.
In her words: “The reward we get on earth will push us to do a better job.
“A teacher doesn’t have to die before they are acknowledged or appreciated. Do the best you can do for us while we are alive.
According to Angela, people who look down on teachers do not understand their importance.
She said they need to be taught better and be brought to light.
Angela said to be a good teacher, one need to love what they do.
In her words: “You might not love the pay but you must love your job. You must love children and the act of teaching.
“See those students as your kids and whenever you teach them, imagine yourself as their parents and evaluate yourself daily to see if you are doing a good job.
“Be teachable. Keep learning because no one knows it all. There is more to know in the field that we haven’t discovered yet.”
Thank you for sharing this Muse NG
You’re welcome.
I love this and I totally agree with her.
I think teachers should be recognized because without them all these professions we see today wouldn’t have been birthed. They are the mother hen of other professions.
Nigeria is doing quite poor regarding recognizing the service of teachers and it’s so sad. I can feel her displeasure. Who wouldn’t feel awful knowing that?
I wish there’s something that would be done to arrest this situation of poor salary payment to teachers. It is becoming quite alarming and if it should continue like this, I don’t think in the subsequent years to come we’d have those who would be passionate about teaching like Angela Onoja, since teaching is borne out of sheer passion to be able to do better at the job.