After a few days of considering, I decided to keep my reflection in my blog.
Although things are changing; people are different due to the reality, I am glad that Grace is still a devoted teacher who loves to help students and always being supportive and caring. She is still a person with integrity and justice as same as I met her 15 years ago. When I tried to express my apologies, her feedback was,” It’s teacher dedication”. Then, I have faith and confidence in her that she is not going to change negatively like most of the teachers in AE.
In addition, I am grateful that although time is fleeing, after 15 years, there is still a campus where I can visit, a private and safe space I can sit and talk, and a beloved teacher I can chat with.
I am thankful for the two points that I stated above. I wanna give Grace a big HUG with love and gratitude.
The memories constantly popped up in my brain. The sentences that appeared in my brain were “thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. You went far and beyond the call of a teacher’s duty. Your influence on me has been profound. I’ll always keep in mind that how much you mean to me.”
As I collected my thoughts and organized my stuff, I was so touched by the words Grace texted me, ” To have taught you is the best present God gave me in life.” I can’t promise how much effort I will cast on teaching and my students, but I am sure that I did not and will not choose to be like Ula who discouraged students by putting teacher benefit as a priority. I will try my best as always to become a good teacher like you.
***Never put teachers’ benefits prior to students’ rights and wellbeing.