DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
My Little Paradise
Charo B. Antang
Few meters from the gate you can smell the scent of fresh flowers. From its sweet fragrance, you can tell that it’s the scent of rose flowers. This scent always made me hold my breath, wanting this to remain in my system. This scent will grow stronger as you approach the gate and enter this little garden of mine planted with varieties of flowering plants. Flowers of different colors that will amaze your eyes and will invite you to stand or sit and stay for a while.
At the middle of this garden is a little bahay kubo. A little house made of bamboo and anahaw leaves. It measures 3 square meters. It has bamboo chairs and a cradle made of abaca fibers hanging inside it. A perfect place for a nap after a day long of work. A perfect place for rest that I always feel my legs cramping and my eyes becoming heavy, I always wanted to sleep in this cradle while listening to the birds chirping and smelling the scent of the different flowers. This is my little paradise.
The row of flowering plants started from the very gate of the garden. Two rows of drift wood planted with different varieties and colors of vanda are so arranged so it formed an aisle from the gate to the main door of the balkonahe. Violet, white, yellow and crimson are the dominant colors from this row.
On the inner left of the garden are big flower pots planted with roses of different colors. The roses always beamed with flowers all seasons of the year. This is one of my favorite corners of the garden. A long bench and small table made of recycled wood are found beside the pots, a place to entertain one or two visitors.
About three me,mters away from the pots of roses are short drift woods planted with another variety of orchids, the dendrobium. These are planted on shorter drift woods because these do not grow very tall. White is the dominant color in this corner.
At the inner right of the garden is a corner of Anthurium. These are circularly arranged under a green net. This net regulates the amount of sunlight. Too much sunlight bleached the color of the flowers. I have red, pink and white anthurium planted on pots filled with coconut husk. Beside the anthuriums are African Daisy planted directly on the soil. I have variety of colors and sizes. Some are small while others are big. Red, Pink. Yellow, Orange. Others have single line petals, others habnbm nmve layered petals.
The newest from my collection are the brumilliads. Most of them are flowering while few are not. They are resemblance to pineapple. Leaves are layered with thorns at both edges. They need less water but mosquito friendly because water is stored in between the layers of the leaves and on the center of it. Most people admired there flowers, though it took year for it to bloom. These are expensive plants, a single plant range from P500.00 to P1, 000.00 but it multiplies up to four new plants.
I love this mini forest I have at one corner of my garden. Here I grew ferns, palms, and other tall ornamental plants. There are two lanterns at the center and a small fountain. Below is a small pond with several gold fish. Two benches made of woods are installed facing each other.
The whole of the garden is planted with green carpet. An aisle from the gate to the door of the balkonahe is cemented with flat stones. The garden is decorated with white pebbles, white and green stones. Two narra trees are planted at the corner going to the garage. Red palms are planted at the four corner of the garden. Gumamela of different colors and varieties are anywhere.
This is my paradise. A place I always wanted to go home and rest after a day of head breaking and head draining work.
Descriptive Essay
ON BEING A TEACHER
Teaching is a challenging task. One shall perform his duty with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence, skill, and with utmost devotion and dedication to ensure the quality of education. It is also the noblest profession. A teacher carries numerous responsibilities. Her task is not just simply delivering the lesson inside the four corners of the classroom but rather serves as the second parent of the students and therefore loves and cares for her students like her real children. A guidance counsellor, that whenever her students commit mistakes, a teacher makes the students realize their wrongdoings. Sometimes, she even serves as charity worker to her students, when she meets students who are less fortunate in terms of living, students who would go to school without taking their breakfast, without baon, without fare, but still persistent in finishing studies . With this kind of student, a teacher could never close her eyes but would willingly extend help. The only reward a teacher hopes or expects from these students is for them to finish studies and more-to be able to get a good job and earn a living on their own in the future.
It is said that all professionals with different fields of studies came from the hands of a very simple mentor...with these thoughts in my mind and despite the fact that being a teacher is very taxing; still, I am proud of being one.
As an educator, I strongly believe that nurturing and nourishing all students must be my utmost concern. I dream of students whose fullest potentials are developed to make them become responsible citizens. They must be properly taught to read, write and speak both English and Filipino. They must use these languages as an avenue for self-improvement and community building. They must know how to process ideas, compute numbers, solve problems, apply concepts, and make decisions for themselves to make them empowered learners. They must be students who are always hungry for knowledge, seeking truths and facts of life for them to give meaning for their existence. They must be valued as persons whose ideas, thoughts, perceptions, views and beliefs are essential for him and for others. They must be immersed to the complexities and realities of life so that they would be able to survive and continue living and valuing life. They must be regarded as God’s precious gift whose life is essential for his school, family and community. I can only do these, by making them the heart of the operation of the school where the program and projects are students-centered.
-Shiella D. Añonuevo
