I never want to be that sentimental, but sometimes, I am forced to be so…
These kids are part of why I started this sub-category: Childish teacher.
Years ago, I was reluctant to “settle down” in the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education at ULIS-VNU, just because I had no better choice. Considering my future prospects, my family and I agreed that this educational background may ensure a “stable” career if I try hard enough. However, teaching was a nightmare for me as I’m an introvert who doesn’t like talking too much, especially in front of those who I’m not familiar with. Therefore, getting trained to be a teacher of English was my last resort when there wasn’t anything that seemed “more suitable” for me then. But I’ve changed (maybe I should have used “grown” instead) since those tough days.
At first, right after starting to live in the dormitory, I tried my best to be a tutor, just to get used to talking and instructing people when it comes to learning English. “Glamorous pine tree” and “smart aura” (I don’t reveal their names due to privacy reasons, hehe) were two of my students at that time. They are totally different, and I’ve learned much from these naughty kids although they often drove me crazy. We’ve learned, laughed together, and even cried (oh, maybe the only one that cried was me after being “bullied” by these evil kids 😂)
Perhaps in the future, when I have more time, I will contribute two separate blog posts about each of the students during my university years, and some other students that I think they’ve given me some food for thought. So now, let’s go back to the topic of “how I’ve combated and grown up with these playful kids”.
I first met them when they were 10 graders. Now they’re about to be freshmen at their universities. Time flies. I used to scold them a lot. They used to express their negative feelings in front of me, even though they tried to hide those and managed to stay as polite as they could. I was too inexperienced, sometimes making everyone bored and stressed out, even myself. But at the end of the day, we’ve sailed through.
I’ve posted on SNS some foolish words to encourage those kids. Though I didn’t mention their names or tag anyone, they did know for whom I wrote those words. “Glamorous pine tree” even shared my post on his story, adding “3 years” as a reminder of our 3-year journey. I was touched, but for sure, whenever I meet them, I’ll tell them off as usual =))
Bros, I hope we’ll be alright in the years ahead.
brillbro 