A LAZY BOY TO BE A TEACHER

 

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the residents of Ara village, in a valley called Palong-Palonge, a boy was born named La Simang alias Hasyim from a father named Laeppe and a mother named Yubang who patiently cared for his eight children from his first marriage and his two sons from his second marriage.

With great patience, they both cared for and raised me amidst difficult economic conditions with my father working as a mobile farmer and my mother as a housewife. Within a year or two, they had to leave the land they cultivated and move to another place to live for us, their children, so that we could grow up behind our father's big dreams so that we could go to school and not become illiterate people like them.

In living our lives, there were times when we had to live in caves, on mountain peaks, and in some barren valleys just to try our luck in the hope that the upland rice which was my father's mainstay crop could still grow until it could be harvested. However, if we are unlucky then corn will be the substitute.

As the youngest child, I grew up in the cradle of a rather pampering mother, in contrast to my father who was a bit strict but by no means rude and cruel.

With the gentle attitude of my mother and father, I grew up to be a child who was not used to working hard. My father's daily work as gardening does not require me to join in the work. Even if I wanted to, it wasn't because my father insisted that I help. Dad just used to remind me that I can't go to school like dad. With great hope, my father often said.

“Assikolako mbo'.” He said it in Bugis language. "You can't be like father." “Don't be like a buffalo. Everywhere just to be cut.” "You have to be able to read and write so that people don't easily fool you." He continued to advise.

Because I don't often help my father in the garden every day, it's not uncommon for my mother's first husband's older brother to label me as a lazy child. “That's your son wa' Laeppe, 'makuttu.' "He said in Bugis language. “Makuttu” means lazy.” "Then you'll fall and hit the ground." He said continuing.

What my older brother said about being lazy to me is also true. I feel that working in the garden is a job that makes me hopeless. My father, who started working early in the morning, came back in the afternoon to just have lunch and then returned to the garden until the evening, the result was just to survive his daily life. Even that wasn't enough. Tapping enauh for additional income, harvesting candlenuts once a year is not enough to just make a house that is livable.

The scene really made me really agree with my father, I have to go to school. When one time I was helping my father in his new inch-sized garden, I was trying to clean it, then I started to get so bored that I said, "When will this work be finished!" I swear in my heart.

My father is so diligent and painstaking at work every day but I am the one who feels bored seeing him. When my father started cleaning the eastern part of the garden, it wasn't clean yet. The grass had grown abundantly again in the western, southern and northern parts. Even though the area is only about 1 acre. Really boring work.

Various bad stigmas usually reached my father and I - if not derogatory - from the general villagers. Their children are left to grow up to be lazy, there is no decisiveness, if mountain people want to go to school it's just a dream, especially for us village people, where do we take the money if we want to send our children to school , and even school is considered to only cost money. 

The culture that my father built into our daily lives was indeed quite different from village people in general, our father never once shouted when he told us to do something. Especially if the problem is working in the garden or helping him earn a living. Even if dad gets angry, it's only when we act whiny and cry, that's what dad doesn't like. A form of educational behavior that I admire even though I know my father never received any education at all.

I remember one time when I visited a friend's house, I was so shocked when my friend was shouted at by his father. In a high commanding voice, his father told him to collect old chocolate, not to just sit and watch television. "You can really eat that television!" He cursed.

I think I am lucky to live and be raised in a polite, patient and loving family environment. I can't imagine being with this family. Maybe I would be like other children, I could just choose to run away from home.

My father's advice was always firmly etched in my heart which made me adhere to my dream of being able to be better than my mother and father's life. From his stories, I became stronger to change my fate in the future. When I was young, my father often worked at a job. The results were quite promising but had to stop because he couldn't just write a report on the transaction results to his boss. My father admitted that he was really sorry about the situation. Apparently this is one of the strong reasons why I have to go to school and not let our children help him earn a living even though the economic situation is difficult.

Persistence and strong support so that I can get a decent education can finally be answered. Schooled at SD Galiunglangii'e, SMP Muhammadiyah Watansoppeng, SMAN 1 Watansoppeng and S1 and S2 both at Makassar State University majoring in English Language Education.

After graduating from S1, I started studying to be a teacher at SMAN 7 Gowa - before moving to SMAN 5 Gowa until now. I feel very happy working as a teacher even though I still have honorary status. The school that I have been fighting for all this time can finally be realized according to my dreams. After a year of teaching, in 2003 by the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia, official national registration of honorary teachers was opened under the name Temporary Assistant Teachers (GBS). Thank God I am also conditional to join.

I started to become more aware of my responsibilities as a teacher. My passion is to improve myself, increase my abilities in the field I specialize in, and look for opportunities to increase my competence. Participated in the outstanding teacher competition three times but the best was only at the provincial level, until he got the opportunity to continue his education at Masters in 2009.

Malino, 9 October 2023