JOSEPHIANS | LUMEN
21 a principal and his mother , a teacher , with a number of uncles and aunts in the education service , teaching then became the most natural choice . This was what he decided on when he had to seriously think about the future .
“ I remember wanting to make a difference in the lives of others , and since I liked learning and working with youth , I chose to teach . It helped that even though my parents looked tired at the end of each school day , they were happy teaching and were comfortable enough . And whenever I met their students , they would tell me how much of a difference my parents had made in their lives . I think I wanted the same for myself and for those I would teach .”
Being offered a PSC Local Merit Scholarship for teaching after receiving his ‘ A ’ Level results affirmed his decision to teach .
At National University of Singapore , he received a second PSC Scholarship to the University of Adelaide , Australia where he earned his doctorate in English Literature . His first teaching assignment was at Telok Kurau Secondary School in the mid-1990s . Although not expecting to be posted there , he believes it was the best decision MOE did for his teaching career and for him as a person .
“ Teaching there taught me in a very real way what should be at the heart of education – the child and her all around development that a teacher is called to help nurture her to her fullest potential . I learnt the importance of meeting each student where he was , helping him to believe in himself and encouraging him to exercise his potential to the fullest . I also learnt the importance of nurturing him as a person .”
Father Adrian acknowledges it was a humbling experience as a beginning teacher at Telok Kurau as it brought him down from the heights of higher studies and taught him to appreciate what the real vocation of teaching is about . He encapsulates , “ As SJI
expresses it – it is teaching a young person ‘ to learn how to learn ’ and ‘ to learn how to live ’.
After Telok Kurau Secondary School , he returned to his alma mater Catholic Junior College ( CJC ) where he taught General Paper and Literature . In CJC , he began to more seriously consider a vocation as he started conversing with Father Gerard Keane who was the Jesuit priest who served as the College Chaplain . The writings of Ignatius of Loyola about God loving and calling people to
As SJI expresses it – it is teaching a young person ‘ to learn how to learn ’ and ‘ to learn how to live ’
Jesus ’ mission resonated with him very much . He felt he was being called to live his vocation . Living for the service of the faith and the promotion of justice was exemplified in Father Keane ’ s life and ministry and that inspired him very much and helped Father Adrian to dream about the kind of Jesuit he felt God was calling him to be .
In 1998 , he was transferred to the Planning Division of MOE . He knew that MOE had a career roadmap planned out for him . The promotions that came after he returned from his postgraduate studies gave him a sense of where the MOE would like to have advanced him in the education service . And he was quite prepared to follow through on these .
Did he then struggle to forgo such a promising future to answer God ’ s call to priesthood ?
“ To be honest , it wasn ’ t so tough giving up that promising career in education many thought I would have struggled with . I enjoyed being a teacher and working in MOE HQ immensely but the call to religious life and the priesthood was more attractive and even contemplating it was more fulfilling . I didn ’ t feel that I was giving up as I was coming into a fuller and happier sense of what my life is for and who I am . The fact that my bond
was finishing helped make the transition smoother , less complicated . I have often joked that it was easier to make the transition because it was a promotion of sorts from the MOE ( Ministry of Education ) to the MOG ( Ministry of God )!”
After serving out his nineyear bond with the Ministry of Education in 2001 , he joined the Jesuits , knowing he would miss terribly being a teacher spending time with the students and his colleagues in a school environment . Entering the Society of Jesus , his Jesuit superiors reminded him he would be assigned to other kinds of work , probably nonteaching in nature as they did not have any schools in Singapore . That was not the only struggle he faced . “ The really difficult challenges I faced in moving from teaching to religious life had to do more with matters of the heart : leaving my family especially as my father was ailing , and saying goodbye to friends . As much as people think sacrificing creature comforts was difficult – like my jazz CDs , my many books , and my traveling , all the things that make up the good life for single professional , it was ultimately harder for me to leave my family and friends behind .”
What is Father Adrian ’ s aspiration for the role of Catholic schools in fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious ?
He hopes , “ To see our Catholic schools foster vocations by helping our students appreciate that vocation encompasses more than just the call to ordained ministry and consecrated life . All too often , vocation is spoken about in only these terms . What is forgotten is that God calls each one of us , with our different charisms , to different ways of Christian living and serving . Each of us has a role to play in God ’ s plan of salvation . When schools can present this bigger picture of what vocation is to our students , students will be in a better position to make a more discerning choice . Our Catholic schools can then lay the groundwork for vocations in later life , as well as provide positive images of vocations , especially to religious life and the priesthood for inspiration and discernment .”
Previous page : A smile from Deacon Adrian Danker as he awaits his ordination to the priesthood
This page ( top ): Ordination by Archbishop William Goh This page ( centre ): With his Catholic Junior College students
This page ( bottom ): Delivering a talk at the Church of St Ignatius