If Only I Could

Chapter 5

"I'm at work why are you calling me?"
"Anong meron? Napagalitan mo ba mga estudyante mo at parang galit ka?"
"Kevin I'm at work."

Devin sighed as he sat down on his seat, wondering why his brother would call him at such an unexpected time of day. "I just miss my little bro. Is missing you a sin now?"

"Cut it. What do you want and make it quick. I have to go to the third floor for my next class." 

He knew he wasn't this irritable, but for some reason, he currently was. 

"Dev, chill. Ikaw mismo nagsabing hindi ka nakakapagturo ng maayos pag galit ka."
"I said cut it, Kevin. Tell me now or I'm going to hang up."
"Eto na nga sasabihin na. I'm at a hotel right now."

His brother's answer mad ehim let go of a breath he wsn't even aware he was holding. "I'm kidding. I'm here with the guys so I won't be crashing at your place later." Was what Kevin immediately said as he heard his little brother sigh out of frustration. "Oh, alright then." 

Without wanting to hear another word from his older brother, Devin ended the call and activated airplane mode the second the school bell rang, signalling the start of the next subject period. He got up and almost forgot to bring along his laptop which made him go back to his seat and get a hold of his laptop bag and hurriedly went out the faculty room and almost flew across the set of stairs. 

He got inside the classroom and positioned himself in front of the class. "Good Morning Sir Dev!"

"Good Morning. So, is there a topic anyone has difficulty understanding? We will use our time for today as a chance for you to review for the upcoming exams. You may approach me for clarification and any queries. Those who will get lower than half of the total number of items in your exam will be dealth with accordingly. Approach me kung nahihirapan. Do not be ashamed of yourself."

The students looked at each other nervously, but Devin reassured them to not be, as he only wants them to learn.

The moment he sat down and the screen of his laptop covered his face, the students began murmuring amongst themselves, and moments later, the classroom was filled with silence as the students began approaching Devin one after the other, asking him questions on the topics he discussed.

Instead of felling stressed, he loved it whenever his students approached him because they had questions. For him, it doesn't only show how his students want to understand a topic but also informs him of the areas he should work on as their teacher. 

After all, the year-end evaluation result last time which earned him a reputation of being a highly competent educator brought both positive and negative reactions from others.

Which is why he wants to keep on improving himself, and focusing on his top priority, his career.

"Sir? Hindi ka po ba nasestress?" Asked one of his students after he answered their question. He paused and looked at the student who was waiting for his reply with curiosity taking over their eyes. "Nasestress din syempre, I just choose to not entertain stress negatively." He proudly answered with a smile appearing on his plump, pinkish lips which made him look as if he was a frequent user of lip balm. 

"What I mean by that is," Pagtigil niya bigla para makausap ng maayos ang estudyante. He fixed his tie along with his glasses and took a pen from his bag along with a single piece of paper. 

"It's kind of like this," He began once more and drew a bow and arrow on the paper. "See, the arrow should have a specific length in order to fit the bow and for the archer to be able to bring it backwards and release for it to hit the target. But what will you do if the arrows, all of them, are a bit short?"