Monday, March 24, 2008

It's Like A National Teacher's Day To Me

I was a secondary school teacher 13 years ago. Back then, all my students in secondary two were around 14 years old. Now they are around 27 years old. I have bumped into a few of them, and I couldn't recognise any because either their looks have changed, or they have behaved more mature compared to the time when they were crazy teenagers who refused to study and just giggled in class.

Many times, particularly in these two years, I had my ex-students walked up to me when I was having meals with my family in restaurants, and they came and greeted me, for example: "Teacher, do you remember me? How are you? This is my wife, and my son. I haven't seen you for a long time. All of us missed you so much after you left the school."

My mother was hospitalised last week for three days, and she has discharged last Saturday. One the second day of my mother in hospital, I had one young & hardworking female nurse greeted me, "Teacher, remember me? I still keep the photo we took with you before you left the school. How are you?". We chatted a bit, and found out more about the rest of her classmates whom she still keeps in touch. Then she walked away and told the other nurses, "She was my teacher, a good teacher. She looks just like she were 13 years ago."

That afternoon, I did a lot of reflections on myself and my life, and I thought to myself: No ex-student would bother to greet you, and no ex-student would bother to keep the photo she took with you if you were such a lousy teacher.

I summarise my thoughts:

"I believe I am a good teacher, and no words from the jealous people around me could change that fact."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

yes, well done and said Che :)

Pancake Queen said...

Too many, too many, small minded people arpund me. Since there is no way I could change them, then I mustn't let myself be affected by their negative thinking!