“Going to school is not only mental training but also a character building..”
by : Joel Tahimic/ Jomer John Osma
 |
| Dr. Celso Tagadiad during our interview |
O
This interview enables the readers to know him better as a program head and more than that… a mentor, a friend and a teacher.
Introducing ourselves is common during the first day at school and sometimes or always we don’t pay attention at all to what the person is saying. Maybe because this practice is predictable and we knew already the information the person is going to say such as name, age and course. Well, that kind is really is rather boring to listen to. Could it be we would just like to hear something new that could break the routine of self-introduction?
That is the reason when we asked to write a story, we swiftly come up with this idea to know more the person we thought we already knew. And we thought of the many people whom we don't know yet. Eventually, we decided to know more first about the Department of Teachers Education Program Head, Dr. Celso Tagadiad.
Having an appointment with him was already a challenging task to the point that we almost gave up and look for someone else who could give us free time. But if we gave up that easily, we will be missing the chance to know him better. We should never give up!
Finally, we had an appointment with him. However, on the day of our appointment, he has to attend a very important meeting. And I guess you know what it means. Of course, we understood that this could happen because of his situation and we already expected that anything could before we have chosen him. So, we decided to take him by surprise. Sounds rude or harsh to some extent but that is actually what we did to get have him cornered. And we are right. We have got him!
We started our conversation with a little chat then to a more serious topic.
We started our conversation with a little chat then to a more serious topic.
LIFE:
Dr. Celso Tagadiad came from a very humble and unusual beginning. His life began in Zamboanga where he was born as the eldest among 4 siblings. He added that his parents were separated for 6 years. He was 9 years old and 15 when they were reunited. It was during that time they moved to Marilog where took the responsibility of his father to his siblings. Playing with other children of the same age would rather difficult because he has to think of others than personal enjoyment. There were time that he asked “Why me?” or “Why is this happening to me?”. However, it did not stop him from dreaming but rather it pushed him to become determined and motivated to achieve his dreams.
CAREER:
August 12, 2002 was the time he was hired in University of Mindanao Panabo College (UMPC) as an English 9 teacher, it was one of the subjects he handled. “There were challenges”, he said. One of these is teaching phrase structure where he asked his college teacher to explain the topic and how to perform tree diagramming. This was challenging because according to him, he has no teaching experience teaching college students and the only experience he had was during the practicum and it was teaching high school students. Another one is typing subject. He said , “ Me, myself is not that good in typing. However, I still manage to teach them in theory and they’ll do the hands-on.”
 |
| Dr. Tagadiad (center) poses with Jomer John Osma (left) and Joel Tahimic (right) the day after the interview. |
GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT/S:
According to Dr. Tagadiad, he is enjoying his career now. He went to a very difficult situation but he was able to achieve his dreams. He added that looking back those times, he couldn’t imagine how he was able to surpass those challenges. Another achievement for him was way back 2006, where English 9 students performed “Miss Saigon” during the foundation day were local government officials watched. In addition, last 2008 where 8 out of 10 English majors passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers.” Of course, I took all the credits to my students but as a teacher, I can’t help myself being proud,” he added.
GOAL/S
Despite of being successful, it didn’t stop him from achieving and dreaming new set of goals. He is now working on the abstract of his dissertation that he will be presented on an international paper presentation. Also, he wants to write a book about linguistics.
PIECE OF ADVICE:
Dr. Tagadiad counselled the students who are now taking education course, “Money shouldn’t be the motivation why they [students] have chosen teaching. They or we, as teachers should develop passion for teaching. We should think of our students first, we should prioritize them.”
Before we ended the interview, we threw a final question that made him speechless for a moment but spoke immediately. According to him, he wanted to be remembered as a generous person. A teacher who gave or rendered his time to his students to learn. Same thing for his family, friends and colleagues... generous person in giving his time and sharing his knowledge in his own little way.
After our the interview, we realized that we are among the people who are lucky enough to have a chance and thankful that we never gave up until we’ve got an appointment.
We have to admit, people come and go but memories etched forever in our hearts.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you wanted to know more of any University of Mindanao Panabo College staff and teachers, kindly send us an email to johanesjairus@gmail.com with the following information; Name of the staff/teacher you wanted to be interviewed and things you wanted to know about him/her. You can also include your personal questions and we’ll assure you that your identity will be held with full confidentiality.
