Featured LPU Davao Employee of the Month: Mr. Juanito Paulo Deita III
Sir Juanito Paulo M. Deita III, or Sir Yuan, is the eldest of the four siblings. As per Sir Yuan, he and his brothers would stay for months in the hospital as all of them are asthmatic. Sometimes, they would celebrate Christmas, New Year, or even his birthday in the hospital due to their conditions. In particular, he was a kid who you would consider to be very weak. He was always sick – like almost every month. One time, when he was still in kindergarten, where usually it’s just a half-day class, he’d go straight home after his classes and would have his medication – the usual ventilator machine.
According to Sir Yuan, his family was and is not that rich. You could imagine the financial horror of his parents whenever one of the siblings would be admitted to the hospital. Though that may be the case, they get by perfectly some days – on other days not so much.
When asked about his experiences and educational background, he said, “As with many of us, I come from a very traditional Filipino family which means, embodying the Filipino dream: go to a good school, get good grades, graduate, and get a good-paying job. Unfortunately, the second part – getting good grades – I wasn’t very good at it, and I wasn’t particularly good with authority. I was a bit of a rebel. I remember when I was in elementary, while I was studying at Davao Christian High School – a Chinese School – I would study Mathematics and Chinese every summer.
When I was in high school, I was more concerned and focused on the “art side” of things. I was a Special Program for the Arts (SPA) student at Davao City National High School, where during that time, our Specialization grade was more important than our academics. It made me happy as I didn’t really need to pour all my attention into academics. All I had to do was paint, and I’ll be okay.
When I was in college, I was a bit of a “mess” as I stopped after the first Semester at Davao Doctor’s College. If I remember correctly, I was studying BS Nursing at that time, and the Values teacher, who was constantly late, would somehow bully us by shaming us, shouting at us, accusing us of something, or whatever. It had been like that for quite some time – in class, during oral recitation, or during a lecture – she was a constant pain. Needless to say, it came to a point where I’ve had enough. So, one day, in the middle of the class – in the middle of that “bully class” – I just walked out the door. What happened was, it was an oral recitation. She called my name, asked me, I answered – but I think it wasn’t the answer she was looking for. She got mad. Called me a bunch of names. I thought to myself: “okay, good talk.” I got my stuff and walked out. She was shaming me – insulting me on my way out, and I didn’t care. My classmates were “high-fiving” me on my way out. I felt liberated, happy but a little bit messed up.
For any college student to be doing that, you must be either: a.) really cool, or b.) really stupid. I was a bit of both – it felt really messed up. Needless to say, yes, my parents were mad at me for that.
After that, the next day, I was asked to report to the Dean. I explained that the teacher was way out of line, and as a student, who still had an ounce of respect for the teacher, I just needed to get out. After that, I didn’t go to school.
I spent a year not going to school. I stayed at home – practicing guitar – painting – doing whatever creative thing I could do. Sometimes, I would go out to do a gig with my band. I wasn’t really any good in school anyway – that’s what I always thought. For what it’s worth, I was quite happy not going to school.
Then, after a few more months of doing nothing, I thought of studying to be a teacher; and I wanted to study in Ateneo. Out of nowhere, that idea. For two reasons: 1.) My mother graduated from ADDU, and 2.) I, sort of, liked the idea of everybody calling me “Sir”. I think, at that time, I wanted to prove – at least
to myself – that I wasn’t stupid. Long story short, I graduated from ADDU 10 years after. I’ve had a few issues and missteps of juggling being in a band and being an Education student. Certain things had happened that almost prevented me not to graduate actually – but, as of the moment, they are but a distant memory to me.”
“Then, some 2 or 3 years after, I went on and decided to get a Master’s Degree just to make my mother stop insisting me to get a Master’s degree.
I didn’t do what most teachers did – where they would choose a Master’s Degree for their profession. Instead of taking “MAED”, I decided to take “MA-LIT” – Master’s Degree in Literature – just because I wanted to. My idea was to contribute to Mindanaoan Literature and Mindanaoan Literature studies. I didn’t want to go back to Ateneo. At that time, I thought it was boring. So, I decided to get my post-graduate studies from USEP – University of Southeastern Philippines. Everybody’s been saying USEP is difficult. Teachers are like this, like that. I didn’t really care that much – plus USEP is cheaper than Ateneo.
Eventually, after four years, I finished my Post-graduate studies, surprisingly, on time and got exempted from the Comprehensive Examination. As you can imagine, for a person who has thought of himself as stupid all his life – this was something very, very, very special! It made me realize that, maybe, all this time – I was, maybe, just overthinking.”
Sir Yuan also had his fair share of good and bad when it comes to his employment history. He said, “My first teaching gig, it was with a certain Elementary school – it was fun until it became unsatisfactory. It became unsatisfactory when I realized I was being charged all these benefit fees – you know, PAG-IBIG, SSS, PHILHEALTH – only to find out later that I don’t actually have an account number with all the mentioned agencies. So, after seeing my students graduate, I quit and worked in an ESL academy. That was, probably, the best time of my life. My boss was great – and I got to teach Japanese, Korean, and even Thai students face-to-face – but mostly Korean. I’ve taught Korean models, students, and older students. I stayed in that company for two years, then did freelance and creative jobs for the next two years while studying for my Master’s degree.”
Sir Yuan loves teaching. No matter how many times he tries to run from it or deny it – he actually loves teaching. As per him, “I enjoy teaching my students what I know and what I don’t know. In a way, teaching is giving me the privilege to become a master of a particular subject matter – all the while sharing the information to my students.
Am I happy with my current employer? Yes, of course, I am. However, for those who know me, I don’t usually become very happy. For me, it is not a good thing to be “very happy” of anything – being “very happy” of anything leads to something depressing in the end.”
We asked Sir Yuan for his message to all of the students despite the situation we are facing today, and he said, “That’s a tough one. I would say this, I say this all the time to my students, “Be insightful and always believe in yourself”. There is always a reason for the meaningless of things. So it pays to slow down and think. If you can’t do that and whine like a wounded dog – then you become a wounded dog. One must always strive to be a human person, and in order to do that, always think things through thoroughly.
Always believe in yourself. No matter the situation – whether it be in your favor or not – always think things through. The situations that you are plunged in were designed to break you – so, let it. Once you’re broken – you think things through: Are you going to stay broken, or will you lift yourself up? You are always capable of those things – the difference is that sometimes, we don’t think.”
When asked about his motto in life or what beliefs does he hold, he said, “I am a bit weird in many ways. I don’t particularly have a motto, but I do believe that life, with its many purposes and whatnot, is meaningless. Life is meaningless, mainly because it doesn’t have any until we instill meaning in it. Can we operate without any meaning? Yes, of course. Do we have a purpose if life is meaningless? Yes, of course, which is why one needs to be insightful. Though life is meaningless, vague, and weird – one must take into account that, in the absence of meaning, we think. Why is that? Short answer, I don’t know. LOL.
What I do know, is that in the absence of meaning, we are given the privilege to create meaning – to me, that is something, a human person is capable of doing. I’m not really sure if it translates to something that resounds with all of you, but, yeah – that’s the way it is for me.”