Against the tide

Rafael Oquindo

I really don’t know where to start, when Mr. Rosales approach me,  I was a bit surprised when he told me that they are running a segment where  faculty members can share things to inspire some or maybe all students in the college. I started teaching in 1986, I was then connected to a broadcast station as a technical staff, for me, in everything I do, I put my heart on it, and it means that you don’t just do things because you have to, but rather love things when you do, to come out the best in you. Teaching in PUP is not just a job for me ---- it’s my life------ sharing, believing, dreaming and most of all to inspire people from all corners of this institution.

            In 1994 I was lucky enough to be sent to Indonesia, for training, just in time after resigning as OIC of the school’s telecommunication department. For years, life for me is PUP, I was teaching in PUP Maragondon every Saturday and later to Bicutan (another branch). “pero ang buhay ko ay parang telenovela” my father died not seeing whose going to be my perfect mate, perfect I would say …. There is now someone to share things that I love to do. In August of 1996 I was appointed as Chairperson of the Computer Engineering Department, given another mission to test my capability, I went to my drawing board listing down the dreams of a typical Computer Engineering student. I first requested new sets of computers fully networked and requested an internet connectivity from DOST ,we initiated numbers of seminars in and out of the schools to supplement the University’s curriculum, we later initiated a fully computerized enrolment and also came out with the very first  University web site….”minsan I wandered , gaano kaya kagaling ang ibang estudyante sa ibang univrsidad”, then came an idea, why not have an inter-school contest about Information Technology  that would help us enriched our resources and at the same time showcase the capability of our students…. Ganon ako minsan mag-isip , sometimes kwentuhan lang and then--- click-- let’s  do it, we know for the fact that two heads are better that one”. I can be a team player but if the situation calls for it, I can also work alone, an attitude we must all posses to achieve success.

            Last year was a time for test…. a  test of faith,  and my greatest exam ! not just for me,  but also for those who believes in me ….I may say a long quiz, a mid-term in my life, I hope “hindi pa final exam” because I still have  missions to fulfill. I suffered a mild stroke paralyzing the right part of my body, for months I was nothing as if everything went wrong, when I was in the hospital, students, and co-faculty  were there, even one of my very first student….comforting my wife, “mahirap kalabanin  ang self pity”. I keep on murmuring, what will happen to my daughter, she was only three months then, to my wife and to my mother, this was the very same sickness that my father had. I have to fight all odds to show everyone that I deserve their thrust and prayers. I have to stand; these won’t happen if God knows I am not capable of doing so.