I still remember this great lesson I learned in school. I still remember how the teacher taught me that lesson and I still remember the teacher very well. He had an unusual way of teaching. He was an English teacher but he taught lessons in life. He's unorthodoxy took us outside in more than one occasion. I remember watching Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall" music video in the library's AV room as a lesson. I remember sitting around his car listening to his sound system. I don't remember what he taught that day but I remember the car (a Honda Prelude licence plate ABC 1111) I also remember vividly the day he took us out of the classroom to take a walk. When we all gathered outside he told us that today there will be a race. The first person to touch the big tree outside the school gym wins the contest. It was a simple game with very few rules and we wondered what the whole point of it was.
Nobody wanted to run for it as it would just look silly. The last thing a 17-year-old high schooler would want to do is look uncool in front of his classmates. So the boys came up with a devious plan to just block the path to the tree so that the girls couldn't get there first. The girls tried and tried but we wouldn't let them through. On the way we joked and laughed. We got distracted while we walked slowly. We even stopped to take photos. Yes, that's the photo we took on while in the race! It was one of the easiest class we had!
When we got outside the gym having exhausted ourselves fooling around we were told to sit around the tree. While he waited for us to settle down he just stood there, leaning, with one hand on the tree. When we finally got our act together he asked us a question. He asked us what he told us to do. What the game was. Who does what to win.
And then I remembered.
On that day he taught us a valuable lesson. When we set out to do something there are always obstacles. On the way there would be distractions. There would be times when some others would even try to stop us from getting there. But the goal should never be forgotten. Never forget what we set out to do and why we do it.
And that, boys and girls, is the greatest lesson I have ever learned.
Thank you Mr. Wahi.
