Patience is a virtue.

It's hard to be a teacher. That's a conclusion I was able to prove after being a teacher to my cousin for two days. My patience was at brink of collapsing, my hands are tired; my eyes ,teary, and know I am wondering how many great things a teacher must sacrifice for the good of her students.
My attention was called by my tita the day I came back to Las Pinas. She asked me to teach and review my cousin for she was about to take entrance exams two days after for the school she was applying for. I love teaching (it runs in the family, I guess. My mom is an economics professor while my tita taught design in U.P.) but my love for teaching was tested when me and my cousin had a one-on-one tutorial and review. For two days, we had Math. I prepared materials for our lessons, like rounding off numbers and etc., done research just to verify if my idea of the lessons she will have to take up was right, and prepared series of tests to check on how well she understands the things I will teach her.

Day 1: Patience is a virtue.
The very moment my tita asked me this favor of teaching my cousin, I immediately asked her to go with me and start with our tutorial session. She told me to give her 1 hour to prepare, and it was fine since I haven't eaten lunch yet. After exactly one hour, I asked her again, but she gave me these unreasonable excuses. I gave her the time she asked me, and we agreed that we start it at 6 in the evening. Our agreed time arrived, again she tried to escape, but this time I didn't permit her delaying tactics. We started our session, I discussed to her the lesson, gave her tips and all the things she needed for her to easily understand what I was teaching her, but she gave me this look that gave me this impression that she wasn't interested at all. I didn't mind what she was trying to tell, though.I just gave her exercises. She was yawning, and was not paying attention to the things I tell her. I was running out of patience. I was nearly shouting, explaining things to her even though we were just a foot away from each other. I asked her if she wants to go to that school, she should take the test seriously. Whoa. I wonder if I was as stubborn as her when I was a kid.

Day2: Is this true?
First thing in the morning today, I woke her up, and I told her to grab some breakfast before she goes for her exam. I asked her few questions about the things I taught her the day before. Some answers were right, and some were wrong. I was really worried. Worried that she might fail her test. I gave her tips on how to deal with problem solving and math tests, and let her cram a little bit before her departure. Few moments past, I was informed that she failed her math test. She was three correct answers away from the passing score. I felt disappointed, and I feel sorry for her at the same time. Am I that bad for a teacher? Failed math test means more days to prepare again for her math exam. Good thing the school allowed her to have a retake of the math exam. I hope this time, she'll take everything seriously. I don't want her to retain that impression that ate tricia is an evil teacher.

Oh well, this experience just gave me another reason to look up to teachers.

May God spare me more patience.