My first and favorite pupil
"I cannot thank you enough." This was the last word that I said to my student, saying good bye to her. And this could sound unusual because normally it is students who thank to their teacher on the last class. Well, let me explain.
It was the beginning of this semester that I had to apply for the volunteer work of teaching to earn credits at HUFS. Yet, I was not willing to do the volunteering at first. It was the last semester for me and I was not sure that I could care the student well. Besides, I did not really "volunteer" for this teaching work, but the university forced me to do. So, I thought the result of this work would be nothing more than a formal procedure in order to graduate. However, my prediction was miles out. Meeting with the student in Pungsung middle school changed my mind and the memory with her means a lot to me now.
The first impression that I got from Punsung middle school while entering is that the school is more like the one in the countryside rather than the one in Seoul. The schoolyard not that neatly maintained, the school building not that large, distracted atmosphere in the teachers' room… All made me feel nervous as it was different from what I had expected. Waiting for the teacher who is in charge of the volunteer teaching, one little girl caught my eyes. She was chattering with teachers in the room without constraint. Though she was small, the bright energy venting out from her seemed to fill the whole room. To my surprise, the teacher taking charge of the volunteer work introduced her to me as my student for this semester. I smiled at her and she smiled me back, and that was, I think, when I began to like her.
The English class with her was always a pleasure. She was very inquisitive and full of curiosity. We talked about many things in class time. Well, actually she had many questions for me. She asked me about HUFS, foreigners especially Americans, and their lifestyle. Although she was not good at English, she dreamed to be an English teacher and go to the United States when she grew up. When my final exam period ended, we went to HUFS together and I introduced the buildings where I study. I was glad to see her eyes twinkling. As the class went on, I realized how much it is crucial in teaching to keep rapport with students. I also started to understand one professor's saying that every student, if come across out of class, is adorable. The last class with her was two weeks ago. While having lunch with her, I thanked her with all my sincerity. When I found a wistful feeling in her eyes, I also felt sorry, and we promised to meet again.
Even though there will be a lot of difficulties that I will face in the future when I become a real teacher, I think I could deal with the problems and overcome them thanks to this wonderful memory with her.
First of all, I really like your topic. It’s the field I’m interested in; I’m going to be an English teacher when I graduate. I also did volunteer work of teacher last year, so it made me think of my own experience, too. And I envy you because you could like your students.
ReplyDeleteI like the quotation part, ‘Every student, if come across out of class, is adorable.’ It moved my heart. However, I can’t imagine how adorable she is right now. It could be helpful to add some dialogue therfore the readers could feel that she is a nice girl. Show us your specific memory with her if you can. Also, I understand how you felt when you first saw Punsung middle school but it might be more interesting to describe the school more, like ‘The wall looked like it was painted years ago’, or ‘I could see the cows near the school’. Those were just examples but it’ll make your writing more lively and easy to imagine.
Hi, this is ChaiHyeon Nah.
ReplyDeleteYour topic seems to be your experience of voluteer teach to a middle school girl.
What I liked the most about your writing is your good begining. Your introduction catches my attention that I felt I wanted to read your story more. I think your 2nd and 3rd paragraph are the starting of your story-- how you felt before your voluteer teaching, and the first impression of your student. You described your feelings and the situations very well so I could actually imagine the whole thing and I really enjoyed reading it. However, while you put a lot of effort in the begining part of the writing, the middle part was somewhat missing. I expected to hear about your experiences with your student or the reasons you loved her so much but it is a bit too short. Also there are some phrases that are unclear to me.
Overall, I really enjoyed your writing, and I think it is very sweat of you to give your student not only an English lecture but also a good advice about her dream.
Thank you, and see you in the class!
2nd draft
ReplyDeleteMy first and favorite pupil
“I cannot thank you enough.” These were the last words that I said to my student, as we said good bye. Yet this might sound unusual because normally it is students who thank their teacher on the last class. Let me explain.
It was the beginning of this semester that I had to apply for the volunteer work of teaching to earn credits at HUFS. I knew that there was a volunteering program called Donghaeng project run by the Seoul city education office. It was kind of mentoring program between university students and middle school or high school students, so I applied for it quickly. Yet, at first, I was not willing to do the volunteering. It was the last semester for me and I was not sure that I could care the student well. Besides, I did not really “volunteer” for this teaching work, but the university forced me to do. So, I thought the result of this work would be nothing more than a formal procedure in order to graduate. However, my prediction was miles out. Meeting with a student in Pungsung middle school changed my mind and the memory with her means a lot to me now.
The first impression that I got from Punsung middle school while entering is that the school is more like the one in the countryside rather than the one in Seoul. The schoolyard not that neatly maintained, the school building not that large, distracted atmosphere in the teachers’ room… All made me feel nervous, for it was different from what I had expected. Waiting for the teacher who is in charge of the volunteer teaching, one little girl caught my eyes. She was chattering with teachers in the room without constraint. Though she was small, the bright energy venting out from her seemed to fill the whole room. To my surprise, the teacher taking charge of the volunteer work introduced her to me as my student for this semester. I smiled at her and she smiled me back, and that was, I think, when I began to like her.
The English class with her was always a pleasure. She was very inquisitive and full of curiosity. “Teacher, where do you go to school? Are there many foreigners there? Do Americans eat butter with bread? I wonder how it tastes. Did you ever have it before? I wish I had American parents. I want to go to the United States one day…” She was a child who could talk forever about the topic she was interested in and it was quite hard for me sometimes to stop her and to make her concentrate on learning English. However, she did not always act like a child. One day, after the class had finished, she suddenly asked me how I go back to home. I told her that I took bus and then transfer to subway. “That’s nonsense! Why are you doing that? Didn’t you know that there’s a shortcut to get to the subway station?” said her. Then she led me to the station though that made her way home farther. She said that she wanted to walk and see if she was right about the way but I knew that it was just for me. She was warmhearted and mature for her age.
When my final exam period ended, we went to HUFS together and I introduced the buildings where I study. I was glad to see her eyes twinkling. As the class went on, I realized how much it is crucial in teaching to keep rapport with students. I also started to understand one professor’s saying that every student, if come across out of class, is adorable. Time flied and the last class day had come. That day we had lunch together after class. “I cannot thank you enough.” I thanked her with all my sincerity as we came out of a restaurant. “I thank you for respecting me and trusting me as a teacher. You are my first and favorite pupil.” She looked up at me with a wistful smile. “Don’t go, teacher. Can you come back? Please come back. I’ll miss you.” She replied. I had nothing to say but sorry and it was painful. I waved my hands as she left by bus. I felt like I became her mother.
ReplyDeleteAlready two weeks have passed since the last class with her, yet the memory I share with her is still vivid and will be forever. Even though there will be a lot of difficulties that I will face in the future when I become a real teacher, I think I could deal with the problems and overcome them thanks to this wonderful memory with her.