A Calling for Life

There are people whose life is inextricably linked to one job, to one task they remain loyal to for decades. Valentina Loyko is exactly such a person. Forty-two years of work experience at the Gancevich State Agricultural College is not just lines in her personnel file, not a dry chronology, but an entire era lived with love for the profession of a pedagogue and their students.

The Choice That Became Destiny

When asked how she came to pedagogy, Valentina Alexandrovna does not seek high words. She simply says: the choice was a conscious step, but the path itself was not easy.

In my time many girls dreamed of becoming teachers or doctors. And I too dreamed of becoming a teacher. After school I tried to enter the Brest Pedagogical Institute, but that attempt did not succeed. I moved to Cherykov, which is in the Mogilev region, to the technical college of culinary arts, studying the specialty "Child Nutrition Cook." I graduated from the college with distinction, worked in Minsk, then in Gancevich. But the dream would not let go. When in 1981 preparation for future cooks began at Gancevich SPTU-157, I came there as a master of vocational training. In 1988, already a mother of two children, I enrolled at the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute. After its completion I taught at the college, and later at a lyceum, history, Belarusian literature and language (in 2000 Gancevich SPTU-157 agricultural production was reorganized into Gancevich Professional Lyceum of Agricultural Production, and in 2022 the lyceum received the name "Gancevich State Agricultural College"). – Author's note. Leaving retirement, she was briefly a counselor in a student dormitory, and when the lyceum started teaching the specialty "Cook-Candician," she returned to her beloved craft—became again a master of vocational training.

A Master of Vocational Training is both a teacher and a mentor who must know theory but also "put a hand on," teach them to feel the profession, instill respect for labor. He is also a caretaker. And Valentina Alexandrovna knows how to listen as few can: without judgment, with deep understanding that behind every difficult teenager often lies only a simple human need.

– Teaching a subject, teaching a specialty is not difficult – what is difficult is teaching a young person to believe in oneself, – Valentina Alexandrovna admits. – Forms of education, techniques, and requirements change, but young people do not. They are always sensitive to how a teacher relates to their subject and to them. If a teacher views their work as an art to be shared, sees in their students those who will carry this art forward, sincerely engages with their concerns, rejoices in their successes, and worries about their failures, then everything falls into place.

Colleagues describe her as a person of incredible work ethic and kindness. For them, she is the golden fund of the college, a living example of devotion to one's calling. For students, she is a wise mentor who always offers a kind word and gives sound advice. Valentina Alexandrovna herself considers her main achievement to be the atmosphere of trust created in her classes. In her classroom or laboratory, the fear of making a mistake never existed. She always repeated: “A mistake is not a failure. It is a lesson. The main thing is not to be afraid to correct it and move forward.”

Looking at Valentina Alexandrovna, you understand: 42 years is not a finish line, but a height from which opens a surprising view of a life full of meaning. She did not just teach a profession; she taught how to be a Person. And in this is her true calling, her quiet but highly significant daily feat, which takes place within the walls of the Gantsevichi State Agricultural College. As long as there are masters like her, the profession will live on, and mastery will be passed from hand to hand, like a relay.