Four years ago, I was battling against the bustling traffic of Kuala Lumpur; sitting in a posh office sipping my double-shot caffe latte, and was rushing for deadlines.
Despite the hectic lifestyle, I would travel back to Malacca (my hometown) every weekend to teach English and conduct youth activities for a group of low-income students at my church.
Here (in Malacca), I have met parents who struggle to put their children through school and the saddest part was to see many of them drop out from school. This was the deciding factor that made me take that leap of faith to quit my job and be a full-time teacher.
Of the many professions in the world, teaching was never ever in my list. But here I am now, eating my humble pie, counting the list of things I had to give up;
I gave up:
i. my comfortable office for a hot, stinky and sweaty room of 35 people;
ii. all my office wear for baju kurungs and long skirts;
iii. my dream of buying a Salvatore Ferragamo flats ;
iv. having good conversations with intellectual people for people who don’t even know the months in the calendar!; and
v. a potential promotion.
During these nine months of teaching, I have experienced a whirlwind of emotions: sad, devastated, humiliated and sometimes happy (very rare). What used to be outrageous to me seems normal right now. Example; when I first entered my Form Two classrooms, students were sleeping, banging the tables and shouting at one another. All of a sudden, I see chairs and tables flying around. As a new teacher, it really scared me. However, nine months down the road, I can now break fights! This is indeed something I would never have achieved should I remain as a consultant.
Melissa with Aishah Sinclair, who taught the students for a day.
My students are not the nicest people to work with. I have had sleepless nights thinking of strategies to teach them and moments where I just teared in front of them because they simply refused to listen. Several occasions while waiting outside the classroom, I would observe my students and start imagining their homes. Knowing their troubled background, I can’t stop but to tear.There is one thing about them that keeps me going in the classroom that is; they are my nation’s future. It may be difficult to ever imagine that Malaysia would be a better country. However, there is something called ‘Hope’. In the recent mid-year examination, two of my students from the last class made history when they scored A in ‘Sejarah’ and the entire class recorded a 20% increase in the subject as compared to the previous year. Not long ago, the shy-est Chinese girl came out of her shell to act in a drama in conjunction with our independence celebration. I was even more stunned when she willingly covered for her Malay friends when they couldn’t turn up due to the Hari Raya celebration.
This is what I call hope. Something that many think is impossible is made possible.
Of my 27 years of living in Malaysia, I have not given anything to my country except taxes. Thus, this year I would like to present my country with a special gift: myself. Caring for my students does not give me a promotion, a salary increase and a good appraisal from my principal. Thus, the question is “why do I teach”? I gave up my job merely because I believe every child deserves to be loved unconditionally. Above all, I believe Malaysia deserves a facelift from where she is now and I have decided to change her through teaching our future generation.
‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few’. There are approximately five million students in all schools throughout the nation. Take that leap of faith to change Malaysia by building the young ones; and the simplest way you may do is through teaching.
Selamat Hari Merdeka dan Hari Malaysia.
* Melissa Tanya Gomes is a fellow under the Teach for Malaysia programme. Prior to teaching, she was a consultant with Ernst & Young for four years. She currently teaches Sejarah (Form One & Two) at one of Penang’s most notorious school and will be attached in this school for two years.
