By Jun Ray Navarres
Team Lakay’s former two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang reminded teachers of their responsibility being the youth’s role model in celebration of National Teacher’s Day last Oct 5, Monday.
Folayang emphasized how the students reflect their teachers’ actions, hence one should become a good educator in order to build them for the future of the nation.
“The youth is very important in our society. They will go on to be leaders of our country in their own ways. It’s important that they be brought up with the right values and the right character,” said Folayang.
Folayang, an alumnus of University of Cordilleras was a high school teacher before he became a sensation inside the Circle so he knew the struggles and sacrifices of being a teacher.
“It’s such an honorable profession, even if it’s not easy by any means. Being a teacher is hard, but we still do it with a passion because we want our kids to succeed,” Folayang exclaimed.
Folayang knows exactly the kind of sacrifices teachers make in order to do what they do.
But “Landslide” added, despite education being one of the most important pillars of modern society, teachers are paid among the lowest salaries in the entire country, and are often overworked, especially public school teachers.
“We need to take care of our teachers because they have a very important role. They take care of our children when we are not able to. They teach them how to be adults,” said Folayang.
”This Teacher’s Day, let’s celebrate our teachers.”
Despite quitting his job as a teacher, Folayang never left the art of teaching as he continued in inspiring people with his life story. People look up to him after being regarded as one of the top fighters in ONE Championship.
“In my position, I know a lot of people look up to me, that’s why I try to conduct myself in the right way. I want to be a good influence on peoples’ lives,” said Folayang.
“In some ways, I’m still very much a teacher. Now I teach the younger generation of martial artists, to help them navigate our industry.”
And Folayang always keeps in his mind the reason behind his success.
“My greatest teacher has been Jesus Christ. I always try to honor God in everything I do,” Folayang concluded.
Follow the writer on Twitter: @burnsports
