How did I learn to learn
- Monica Sweeney
- Oct 17, 2020
- 3 min read
I remember him arriving in the classroom with his folders under his arms, throwing those on the desk and getting to the black board, actually, a green board… erasing whatever it was written from previous classes, taking the chalk and start drawing the World Map by hand. Of course it was not precise, but that would give you the idea of where History events happened… and then he started… ”Senhores!” Something like Ladies and Gentlemen, because at that time, there were no political correctness, and Portuguese would use a male adjective for both male and female. Honestly, he could not care less about that. He was more interested to get straight into History and make you think!
Cesar was his name. One of the most remarkable teachers of my entire hometown. I mean, a hometown with more than 25M inhabitants! Many people from my generation knew him or heard of him. From hundreds, maybe thousands of schools if you have ever met him, you would never forget.
He walked on the classroom like he was living the History again, and make us travel in time to meet the characters such as the Habsburgs, or the Ming Dynasty, or the Persians and Ottomans, or the Barbarians… and the consequences to the actual World scenario… from one Country to another, he would jump in facts, and dates, and connecting the entire World and your brain would bug! But all at the sudden, everything would get into place and make sense, like magic! There was no way you would not love History, and Politics, and Diplomacy, and everything related to World History.
But more than that, he would affect you forever, inflicting in you a desire to know more, to study, to discover things, to go back and try to understand why this or that happened, what were the connections between this fact or that fact!...
His looks?... he had a considerable belly… sweating and dripping heps… and in a tentative of drying it from getting into his eyes, he would pass his hands, and arms on his forefront that ended up with chalk all over… and while walking through the class, he would throw pieces of chalk to whoever was getting asleep, which got him really crossed. You could only feel asleep if you had a big night, otherwise, you could not stop looking at him and follow his brilliant mind, his memory and teaching. He passed too early, but his mark will live with me, and with thousands of students who were lucky enough to meet him one day!
What most of them had in common was CARING.
I could tell you about many remarkable teachers I had in my life, like my Mum, who taught us the alphabet, and life, my Dad, who taught us the secrets of the Universe, or Mrs Eileen at Sunday School, Tia Regina at Childcare, Dona Oracy and Dona Batalhone at Primary School, Cesar, Zilda Zerbini, Nadir, Waltemir at High School, Chico, Cecilia Laudisio, and Zé Maria, at Uni… those teachers marked my life for different reasons, like some other important ones I had. What most of them had in common was CARING. They cared for their profession, they care to look to their student and see them as unique. They cared about me somehow. Each one in a different way had my heart, my remembrance, and made me a person who is eager to learn more and more and that never stopped learning. Because of them, I learn to learn. I learn to have curiosity, I learn to look at every individual as the most important one, giving them my best while I am with them. Their caring for me, is a way of love, that I will cherish it forever as long as I live.
15 of October is Teacher’s Day in Brazil, and this is my tribute to the teachers reading it. I hope you keep inspiring generations to come. I hope one day you will be recognised and cherished by many. I am not getting into the politics now, but I do hope every government will treat you like the most important profession in every way. I would like to say how much I appreciate you. And above all, I pray God bless you always!
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