I'm a Psychology major at NUS... tsk, please don't ask me to read your mind.. That's not what we do.
Left-handed and proud of it
adores
singing
running.. to clear my mind
reading.. legal thrillers especially
shopping!!
hates
orange, lemon, lime.. anything that's citrus and sour.. eeks
hypocrites
"arrowers"
entries
Friday, August 04, 2006
Looking back at my 21 years of life, it has truly been quite a smooth journey, well, sort of. Back in Primary school, I was just a mediocre student. No fancy grades. No ambitions. No matter how hard I've tried, my grades were so-so and I was usually close to being the bottom few of the class. Even during good semesters, I would only manage to rise to the middle rankings. Of course, I did not do well for my PSLE... as expected. Ended up with a mere 225. Not even sufficient to gain admission into my first few chosen schools. That sucked. Having a cousin of the same age makes things worse. Comparisons are inevitable. He, of course, did much better than me and he made it to SJI - somewhere I would never imagine myself going to.
However, things for me started to change for the better in Secondary school... or probably because I was a late bloomer... In my first year, my English teacher, Mr Pushpam (also the discipline master), asked me if I would be interested to join the Students' Council. I did not think I had the leadership qualities, and I was not sure why he saw any potential in me except that I was a quiet student. He gave me hope to be a councillor and he inspired me to dream big and aim high. True enough, I was elected into the Students' Council in Sec 2 and I gave my best to prove myself. If he hadn't said that to me, I guess I would never had thought that I would make it one day.
It was also in Sec 2 that I got the highest test score in my class for the first time. Can't really recall what subject was that but it was THE trigger that pulled me away from mediocrity - permanently. I wanted it to happen again, and I did not disappoint myself in subsequent tests. My form teacher had always been biased against the councillors as we were always late for lessons due to regimental duties (manning school gates, catching students without name tags etc). I had a feeling that she did not think that councillors would do well academically since we were always missing lessons and we had a lot of events to plan for. I wanted to prove her wrong. I went on to top the class and moved on to the only triple science class in Sec 3.
I did fairly well for my Os, moving on to TJ. On the day of the release of results, I remembered a teacher, Mr James, who said to me: "I told you that you could do it." He was the one who counselled me and insisted that I stay in the executive committee of the Students' Council. I had the desire to decline the appointment of being an ex-co member of the council mainly because I could not handle the politics within the council. And more importantly, it would affect my studies in one way or another. He talked me out of it, and said that it would mean a lot to me to stay on and strive to handle both effectively. I trusted him and I stayed on. When he said those words when I got my results, I was really glad that I had heeded his advice, otherwise I would not have realised that I could.
It really meant a lot to me that someone can have so much faith in me.
TJ had teachers who were no different. In fact, they are more than teachers to me. One of them was Ms Wong, my Physics tutor. Even though she wasn't our civics tutor, she would take the trouble to talk to us about our concerns in school or in our families (even if it wasn't regarding physics). She shares her problems with us too and meets up with each of us once in a while to do some catching up.. She engages in our class activities whenever she had the time too. We have also become regular CNY visitors to her place. Ms Wong changed my conception of a teacher. A teacher is no longer just an teacher. He or she is a guide, a supporter, a friend and a counsellor to the students. Though Ms Wong was unable to turn up for the ceremony, I wanted her to know that: "You have been a great influence in my decision to enter the teaching force. Thank you for teaching me so much more than you could have imagined. Thank you for being there and lending a listening ear when I need one. Thank you for motivating me in learning the wonders of physics. Thank you for everything.
If it had not been for these teachers to have such strong faith in me and to give me support in whatever I was going through, I would not have been what I am today. I want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who have inspired me and guided me along the way!
Today, as I was making my way to the Award Presentation Ceremony, it dawned upon me that I have had a very blessed life. Blessed to have meet all the great teachers in my life. Why do I want to teach? I had no heartfelt answer to it before. I just know that it is not for the prestige. Nor for my future prospects. It's... a calling. I want to teach, to nurture, to prepare them for the future. Now I know... It is more than that. For what I have received from my teachers, I would want to do the same to my students in future - Inspire them to learn, not study. Guide them when they are lost. Make a difference to their lives. And most importantly, bring HOPE to them...
Lastly, to make up for the super short words of appreciation displayed during the ceremony, I would like to say to my parents: Thank you for the support in my decision to read psychology instead of life sciences. I know you were worried about the job prospects of doing an arts subject, but now that I have that covered, there shouldn't be any more worries=)
