Of Appreciate & Appreciations

As an academic year comes to its end, I would usually wonder whether my students have been learning while under my wings. And another matter that would linger in my mind is whether the students appreciate what I have done for them, purposely for them to pass and score in their exams.

And usually, these thoughts remain as thoughts. It is not common now to see every holiday to begin quietly, and to see students (perhaps they can now be called previous students) leaving the college premises without seeing their educators for one last time - to thank the educators for the education they have provided to the students in the academic year. Very few would do that. Some would send SMS thanking the educators. Well, that's better than to disappear as if one has never known or even met the educators before.

Students are becoming ungrateful. If they succeed, they feel it is due to their intelligence, hard work, talents, abilities, etc, etc. Yet, if they fail, it is often the educators' fault - the educators did not teach this and that, did not do this and that; the list goes on and on...

Selfish, I would say of these types of students. Like parasites, they suck out every bit of knowledge from the educators. When they are in the cold waters, they rely on and beg to the educators to save them. When they are out of danger, they would not even thank their savers.

MM is an educator too. Once she asked her students, "I've given 11 As to your class. What can you give to me?". Like all educators, she was expecting a word of thanks. Yet, nothing came out of her students' mouths. 

I have actually stopped expecting appreciations to come from my students. For I have generalised that all students are ungrateful. Yet the end of this academic year has surely displayed to me that hope is still there; that there is still light at the end of the tunnel; that there are still students who appreciate their educators' efforts and sacrifices to make them a better person in the future. 

I'll share with you what I have received from my students. They are not many but enough to soothe my heart:

A class gave me this cupcake. Small but still meaningful.

Almost the whole class turned up for the 'cake giving ceremony'.

 Together with the cake was this card.

 This was part of what was inside the card.

I was rather moved by these words.

 These are the students, who had presented me

with the cupcake and card.

 This is another card, given by a student a year ago.

 He alone sent this card but his card lifted my spirits

to soldier on.

So I guess there's really hope after all . . .

Congratulations, students!

I am writing this entry today with the thought of dedicating it to my students of 2011/2012 sesssion. The results for their application to the university was released last week on Thursday. And from those who have remembered to inform me of their future place of study, I got to know of some of the results.

Andrew was the first to inform me of his course. Though I had been hoping he would get UM, he received an offer to do Medicine at USM Kubang Kerian. I am happy that he's happy to get into the medical course. That's the best gift a teacher could have: to see a student moving happily into the next phase of his life, to embrace what was given with open hearts, and to plan to excel without regrets and with much exuberance. I wish you all the best, Andrew, and be the best that you can ever be. Never forget what you have learnt and gathered in KMPP and use them as your guide for your future undertakings. Remember, education is not just what's on a piece of paper.

From Andrew, I got to know that Ang and Lim (from his class) have managed to go into UM. I'm honoured, for UM is my Alma Mater. I hope these students would enjoy academic as well as student life in UM as I had when I was there. Hopefully, when they graduate, they would always be proud to be part of UM as I have been all this time.

So students,

I know many of you out there have received your own offers and are now happily planning and preparing for your new life at the varsity. Though you might not have told me, I would like to say "Congratulations!". May your varsity life be filled with education, experience, joy, happiness, friendship and love. Challenge yourself to the limits of your being and be the best that you can ever be. Have a wonderful varsity life.

Unfulfilled Promise

Dear students of 2011/2012... Andrew, Chiara, Girisha, Farah, Kay, Alwani, Nadia, Amir, Lim, Shiqin, Fatin... and the long list of other names that I might not be able to mention here... this is a declaration of an unfulfilled promise. Or rather, a declaration that I will not fulfil my promise.

You might be asking, what promise? I understand, after having been at home for 2 months. You might not even remember that you had spent almost a year with me in this side of the world.

Alright, coming back to the promise... it's the promise of a Facebook account. If I had remembered well, I had promised of opening a Facebook account to keep in touch with you and vice versa.

Yet, I feel, at this moment, that I do not really need a Facebook account. I am not a computer nor an Internet junkie. I do not spend most of my time every day in front of the PC. Though I have the privilege of a PC at the office, my life is not ruled by it. Having looked at a friend's FB account, I am confident that I will be stressed thinking of updating my status, checking and replying to messages, adding and rejecting friends, getting rid of unwanted, unbecoming, inappropriate messages, and God-knows-what-other-things related to Facebook. I'm already having a hard time updating this blog of mine, what more with a FB account to update rather regularly.

So I have decided then... no FB. Furthermore, my friends who are suppossed to transfer to other colleges decided not to go and so a FB account is no more essential. Well, I have to be honest, one of the reasons for me to have the FB account is to keep in touch with my friends whom I thought were leaving. And as they are staying, I think you know the answer.

I therefore apologize, especially if you have been waiting. Please still do keep in touch, via this blog if not by phone. I would want to know where you are heading for tertiary education. All the best then for your future undertakings and please do take care.