I LOVE MY JOB

Who said life as a teacher is boring? It was the greatest one and a half year of my life. Nothing, I really mean nothing can compare such wonderful memories.

Frankly, I didn’t choose to become a teacher. My mum did all the applications and all. But when I entered UTM Semarak and realized that I couldn’t cope with its poor condition, I decided to go for the teacher training program. I didn’t even know that it was a twinning program, I went for it anyway. I guess it was the wisest decision I have ever made.

People said that being a teacher is the easiest job nowadays. Work half day, payment comes in every month, holiday the same with school holiday, no peak hours, no need to face the traffic jam, bla bla bla…But being a teacher is as hard as lawyers, doctors and engineers. Only we are dealing with wonderful kids that make our job a lot more interesting.

Apart from all the experiences I gain through the whole academic years, I admit that I have grown somewhat more mature. Working with kids as my biggest client makes my job even more interesting. Kids, my God, are the greatest, purest creature in the world. Whatever they did wrong, I find it very amusing and entertaining. Of course there are parts when they don’t complete my work, forget to bring the books, do silly spelling mistakes, forget to do corrections and many more. And I have to admit I get angry most of the time, but mostly because I do not want them to make more mistakes. I want them to become perfect and grow up to be a discipline person.

If you ask my students, who is the fiercest teacher in the school, they will answer, “Miss Julia”. But if they fell and bleed their hands, or if they were sick, they will find me instead of their class teacher. There are some other incidents that truly catch my heart.

3 Bestari is my favourite class. I teach them English since last year, so most of them are used to my style and already understand the routines. I never get problems such as students sleeping during my period, students not paying attention, because they always want to pay attention. It sounds corny, but true.

And guess what, these kids are sweet too. They know how much I love earrings (because I always wear fancy earrings to school), so during Teachers’ Day, most of them bought me a pair of cute earrings to add to my collections. When they did something wrong and I got angry, some of them would write a sorry note and put it on my table. Some of them would copy down a recipe of bread pudding because they know I love bread pudding. Some of them would ask their mums to bake extra cake so that they can give me the next day. Isn’t that amazing?

But seriously this ain’t the reason I love my job. I love my job because I learn how to love other people other than my own family. I learn to care about people who have no blood relation with me. I learn to put aside personal things to cater with the needs of people who have no relation with me. I love my job because it gives me great memories each day. I meet interesting people and encounter interesting events each day. I learn new things every day, I improve myself each day and become better person he next day.

If people ask me why did I study abroad just to end up being a teacher, I would slap them and say, ”That shows how difficult it is to become a teacher.”

God, I love my job so much.