Before graduating from High School in our little town in the province of Iloilo I considered the suggestion of Robert Frost. I do not see myself as a Pulpit and a Sacrament slave in anyway nor dream of becoming one at that early age yet I took a seminary formation. It is a road not taken by many. It made me different among my classmates who flocked in nursing and maritime universities, and it made me woke up one morning that I am already inside the seminary and obliged to learn no other than Philosophy. The 5-year academic seminary formation went very swift and 2 years ago I vested my graduation dress with the said degree.
For a seminarian, philosophical education is a must I really don’t know why. I formulated this hypothesis that philosophical understanding as the trunk of many arts and sciences paves the way in living the mysteries of Theology; hoping that the Vatican will agree with me. As it leads man to understand his environment, his fellow human person, himself, and lastly the Ultimate, it leads him to know, love and serve his Creator, but this is odd in my case since I am no longer a seminarian. I could have used my philosophical skills and knowledge well as a theologian by this time. The world outside my alma mater’s wall is not as friendly as I expected and I realized few months after my graduation that my degree is not useful as I thought. I scanned online job seekers web site, broad sheet’s classified ads, and nada. No one looks for a philosopher. The inexperienced bird is facing no other than hunger- a non existing reality inside the walls and comforts of the seminary. Indeed it took me a lot of tears to deal with the new world and it took me a lot of effort to reconcile my philosophical understanding against the reality; the knowledge from Ordo Amoris of Scheler, of the Dialogue Buber, lectures of Dr. Dy among others against the tangible reality of degrading self, war and conflicts and of course vices and evils.
I have not yet understood things fully or I might not understand these things at all. This thirst pushed me to enter the portal of the heart of the education. Enrolling to the graduate studies is my personal attempt to verify my realization and secondly to equip me with qualification in dealing with hunger. Education will surely give my higher salary, good job placement and many doors to send my resume and application letter. I would like to spare myself to the lashes of economic degradation and poverty yet more than that education might as well spare me from the degradation of morality and of human person himself. Above all, I would like to become a good teacher of Philosophy, better than any teachers I had in my fifteen years of academic formation because being a good Philosophy teacher will not only spare me from the woes of reality but also the eager young mind’s future.
I am a person of no great intellect nor of character. I am a lazy person who literally loves to sleep and spend of my free time in bed. I recognize these as factors that will hinder my studies. But I also realize that philosophers do not need to be very industrious, a sense of hunger and wonder is enough to succeed in this endeavor as far as my present status quo is concern.
It is Philosophy because I love teaching and I have students. I will be studying for myself and for them and by it we shall test the waters and reveal what is the indubitable.
