From The Sun To The Moon

I woke up early at 7 today. It's the only day of the week I'll ever be up this early. Those who know me well enough will surely laugh to themselves about this fact. Hehe.

Naturally, I dread getting up so early but my young students have slowly become less of a pain and more of a joy and so I'm happier to get up early these days. I'm really proud of some of them who started out as rude and immature kids but have now slowly grown up to be well-behaved teenagers (although they are still a little 'humsup'!) Haha!

Among the boys who used to drive me up the wall are Jowie and Ren Hoe, whose birthdays we celebrated today. The thing that made this ocassion that much more special was that it was initiated by Shaun, another one of those boys who gave me so much stress in my first year with them. He was thoughtful enough to text me days before to plan this little celebration. Although I ended up ordering and buying the cake; and paying for most of it, I didn't mind. These boys have come quite a long way and show that they can change for the better. To me, this is the best gift of all. Students who go on to score straight 'A's make me proud but students who show that they can change their attitude for the best make me prouder.

So, here's to my boys: Jowie and Ren Hoe - Happy 14th Birthday! And to Shaun - Well done!

As soon as the joy of the morning was over, a little sadness started to fill my day; as night approached and the moon started to rise. Tonight, I was going to say 'farewell' to my ex-student, Kay Sern, who would be flying off to Australia. In all my years of teaching, he's the first I've had to say 'farewell' to and what more, so soon after graduating. So, it's with a bit of reluctance and a tinge of sadness as I feel he's still too young to leave. But alas, what's planned is planned and I will just have to accept that.

I didn't mind the long lonely drive to LCCT. It was the least I could do for a friend. Some people don't understand why I, as an ex-teacher would do this. Well, I guess they don't understand how much my students mean to me. And they probably don't understand that I may be a teacher to them in class but outside of it, we're friends. Of course, I don't do this for all my students. Friendship works both ways. It's pointless if I treat my students as friends but they don't feel the same way about me. The last thing I want is to be accused of not being fair or showing favouritism, which I don't practise.

Love can't be forced and so is friendship. So, to my friend, Kay Sern - Take care and enjoy your new Australian adventure. Carpe Diem!