I Care

Dian from ITB

Hi guys! I'm back again. You know, I was looking through some of my old pictures with some of my students and it just dawned on me that I am actually accomplishing the very mission that I set out to achieve which was to make the world better through opening minds and shaping individuals. After all, what is the purpose of any education if it cannot be used or applied to society? I like to believe that through teaching English and caring about my students, I somehow make them more well-rounded and better equipped to handle the challenges that may come up in life. As an educator, there are many things that I believe in and try to ensure that my principals are evident. Whenever a parent asks me to teach their children, they even if they don't realize it kind of made me a member of their family. I think this way because I will treat their children (my students) as if they were in fact my own. What do I want for my own children? I want the same things every parent wants. I really appreciate the amount of trust put in me by not just the parents but by my students themselves. They count on me to prepare them. They count on me to make a difference in their lives. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I think I do a decent job meeting their needs and expectations. I guess one of the best experiences a teacher can have is the acknowledgment from his/her students as being vital to the success of the student him/herself. I just love being invited to graduations and having the chance to talk to parents and family members about how proud we all are to witness first hand a great achievement. On a lighter note, it is also really fun to take pictures and act a little crazy and feed off the graduation excitement floating through the air. Graduation day is when you get to see your students contemplating their future and what they want to do next. 

Yuwanda from UNPAD

Indonesia is such a fun place to teach because in addition to teaching Indonesians, I have also had the pleasure of teaching many international students from places like Japan, Thailand, Madagascar, and Laos just to name a few. Top Indonesian universities accept a lot of students from the world over. The woman you see on the right, Yuwanda, is actually from Thailand. I helped her out a lot while she was here taking her master degree. She was a foreigner too, so she often asked for my advice about various topics. Not only did I help to improve her English fluency, I also helped her write letters and papers for school. One day, while her mother was visiting Indonesia, she brought her mother to my place to introduce me. That meant a great deal to me and truly made me feel special. Even though her mother could not speak English, her mother asked Yuwanda to translate how thankful she was for looking after her child and helping her make it through the so many challenges of university life. I will never forget that moment. As teachers we sometimes forget that education is a two way street. As we strive to inspire our students to be better learners and people, we often forget that our students are our greatest teachers in that they inspire us to be better individuals and to set better examples. Sometimes, they may very well be the reason for getting out of bed in the morning. On her graduation day, we literally took like a thousand pictures together and that made me feel like she also did not want to ever forget me and how important I was to her while she was studying in Indonesia. 

Ikbar from ITB

Sometimes it is easy to forget that being a Native speaker of English over here is not just about making money because every one tries to sell your services to a company or school or something like that. Sometimes, it can be easy to lose heart and clock in and out like a 9 to 5. Just when I realize that my motivation and sincerity has decreased, my students remind me that I am more than just a Native speaker, I am more than just a hired teacher. They remind me that I am special because they feel as though I care about them. That's a cup of coffee for you I tell you. One way to tell that you absolutely have that magic in the classroom is when your students constantly recommend you to their friends and such is the case with Dian (top picture) and Ikbar (to the left) . These two gave me so many students and of course as mostly a private English teacher, I greatly appreciated it. I mean it was really good for Guru Datang . One thing that I hope never changes is my passion for teaching because as a result of my passion, I care not just about the material I cover in my classes, but I care for my students as well.