I do.
I remember writing that I wanted to become a teacher.
I remember admiring the influence and impact a teacher has on her students and how a good teacher can be a lifetime inspiration.
However, in the years that follow, I did not train to become a teacher.
I took up Business Studies and became an auditor.
But the passion to teach never really went away.
After my 'O' levels, I spent half a year working as a relief teacher in a school in my neighbourhood.
This brief stint helped me to realize one thing - much as I like teaching, handling a huge class of 40 monkeys is really not my cup of tea.
Perhaps it's my young age and inexperience with kids, my first day was a disaster. Though I survived the six months and learned a lot about teaching, I knew I would not end up in public teaching,
But that did not stop me from teaching.
Throughout my tertiary school years, I worked as a part-time tutor to earn my own keep. I must say it was an entirely different experience from the one I had as a relief teacher.
I liked the personal touch in my lessons - being able to interact with the kids I am coaching on a personal basis; being able to customize my lessons to match the learning speed and style of my students. It was a more enjoyable and less intense experience, and I found this experience more fulfilling and fruitful.
It was this experience that inspired me to leave my full-time job to pursue a career in private teaching.
Five years down the road, I did not regret my choice. I still enjoy the freedom of being able to plan my own curriculum, prepare my own materials and invent my own teaching methods. I still feel the same satisfaction when my students come back to me and tell me they enjoyed my lessons and missed my presence after they graduated. I still love teaching as I had when I first wrote about it when I was eight years old.
This is my aspiration. This is my passion. This is my calling.
About the Writer
Ms Vivien Wu is the founder of The Pedagogy Domain, a provider of small-group home-based language workshop for young learners. As an experienced teacher, trainer and facilitator, she is dedicated to improve learners' command of language through interactive, practical and fun workshops. Read more about her here.
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