Franz Lenard Torres 
In the humble slopes of a little town, lived Biboy, small and round, who wandered through life like it was an aimless shenanigan. He slept, wept, and ate in their humble home and spent his days lazing around. However, an abrupt twist was brought upon his uneventful life. He was suddenly ushered into a four-walled room with strangers his age and one lady bossing him around. One thing about Biboy was even though he was a massive sloth, he was a perceptive couch potato— observant. As he played out his time sitting on his chair in front of the run-down blackboard, he started to notice new things about the person telling him what to do.
Biboy learned that the woman was actually his “Teacher”— a word he learned in one of the subjects the lady taught. He noted that his teacher did a lot of things for them and he didn’t really know why. So, he did the next best thing he thought of; list it down and wait for Mommy to explain everything to him later. So, he did. He grabbed a no. 2 pencil and his pad of paper and wrote down what he wanted to describe to his mom in numbered sequences.
He wrote:
1. Teacher likes to give.
Give— Biboy knew this word. He uses it almost every day because his mommy taught it to him and said it was good to give. Although, he couldn’t really wrap his small head around the idea of giving that much. His mother tried to explain that his teacher was simply doing her job; to give and offer new things to students so they could grow up smart like Biboy always wanted to grow up as. So, he nodded absentmindedly, not really knowing how to respond, all he knows is that all teachers like to give and give and give.
2. Teacher is patient.
Patient— another word he learned from Teacher. He told his mom that Teacher was very kind and understanding. His mother told him that teachers are the most patient people in the world as they deal with a lot of kids like Biboy almost every day. So, she tries to understand everyone in their classroom. Biboy agreed, he reckoned that he would never have thought to be patient around his classmates because he would have shouted at them all day long. So, from then on, he regarded Teacher as a strong woman because she could do what he could not do.
3. Teacher sacrifices.
Sacrifice— Biboy learned this word on a cloudy day. He was beaming that he learned such a “big” word but he never really imagined he would use it so soon. He learned that Teacher was actually three barangays away from their town. Teacher would wake up in the wee hours of the morning just to meet Biboy and his classmates. Teacher always looked happy even though she was tired. She always wore her wrinkled smile like it was her best bestida. He knew she was tired because he would catch her sleeping when it was recess, head on folded arms on her old wooden desk. Biboy tried to ask his mom on why Teacher did this every day and why would someone do it on a daily basis. His mom answered “labor of love” which just built on his confusion. His mom added that he would understand when he grew up. And boy, did Biboy want to fast forward time at that very moment.
Teaching has always been revered as a noble profession that requires great passion— because it did. Biboy learned this concept when he left the intertwined hills of his barrio as he graduated high school, leaving behind their classrooms and Teacher with kids like Biboy back then. He did not need mommy to explain it to him anymore. In the rusted Saraw, he reminisced that it was always Teacher that found the strength to look back every day to their poky village to teach Biboy and his fellow learners. A profound sense of gratitude engulfed him as he was trying to comprehend the amount of times Teacher might have wanted to quit but didn’t because of the children waiting for her— children who were woken up by their mothers and forced to take a bath with the freezing water from the nearby river, garbed with off-white white shirts, with heavy eyes.
It did not need Biboy’s perceptiveness to make him realize that Teacher was simply doing a “labor of love” because despite of the lacking facilities, the salary that did not cover the fare for the daily commute, and parents who would complain about and for their child, Teacher always came back. She came back for Biboy and his classmates. Biboy is thankful that he now knew what “labor of love” meant because Teacher always did it for them and it seemed like she loved it every single time.
Now, in the not-so-humble city that boasted what their borough could not. He sits, waiting inside a four-walled room with strangers his age and one person asking him something.
“What do you want to do when you graduate?” The lady with smile lines asked.
“To teach,” Biboy replied.
