Gratitude Day 1 - I'm Thankful That I Got Into Teaching

I was nominated by @lymepoet for the #7daypositivitychallenge and to be honest, I have a lot to be thankful for. Chief of all, I am thankful that I am a teacher. I know its awfully cliche to say it but I am not thankful just because I like teaching. I am thankful because along with me taking the first step to being a teacher, many great things followed. To begin, you should know, I always hated the idea of being a teacher, teaching to the 17 year old me was just not cool enough. In fact, I would've rather gone into ministry and train to be a pastor instead of becoming a teacher. Yup, that was how much I disliked teaching.

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I wanted to be a lawyer, I was good at debating and public speaking, so going into law seemed like the most logical choice. However, things as you know, don't go as you plan.

One Door Closes, The Other Opens

After I received my national exams results, I was pumped to get into law school. Like the prodigal son, I wanted to claim my inheritance of college education from my parents. To which, my parents said, no. We were not financially secured and my only choice was to secure a scholarship.

As I was a state athlete and did not do too badly in my exams, I received three scholarships. Two of these were alright, but one of them was a full overseas scholarship, complete with an allowance and a job offer upon completion. The problem with it was that it was a teaching scholarship. I immediately said no, to which, my parents, in their Asian wisdom, advised against it. So off I went, grudgingly to teacher training. I hated the idea initially, but I grew to enjoy my time at college.

My friends were great friends and we had many great times together. That being said, the overseas stint was eye-opening. I enjoyed every bit of it and having being immersed in different cultures and styles of teaching, helped me not just professionally, but it helped me grow as a person too.

Having said that, being on a full scholarship also helped alleviate my parents' burden. However, its not just about money, its also about doing something meaningful which brought about a change in how I saw people.

How I Grew To Like Teaching

There were two pivotal moments that made me like my job. The first was a part time job that I took while I was overseas. I applied to be a swim coach and was immediately given the job. I had a group of young 9 year olds to train and they were mischievous, loved to whined but adorable. However, teaching-hating-me did not enjoy the whining bit and I felt like punishing the whole lot of them. I thought to myself, since I was trained that way by my coaches, surely I could do the same to them.

Unfortunately, the rules were different in that country and I had to 'advice' them instead of dishing out any rigorous punishments. Apparently, forcing them to water tread for 15 minutes was too cruel. That being said, what surprised me was on the day I finished my studies and had to leave the country, the students, parents and swim school surprised me with cakes and a glorious letter of recommendation. I was touched.

The second incident was my first teaching experience, I had a group of teenagers who were difficult to teach. However, remembering my swimming students, I pressed on, earning their respect and support. They were so supportive of me that whenever I was evaluated, they would transformed from little devils into little saints. Every time I asked a question, all of them would respond enthusiastically, in fact, some of them would even walk up to my evaluator and tell him some fictional story of my teaching skill. One time, they caught my evaluator sleeping and asked if they could take a photo to blackmail him. I didn't say no, nor did I say yes, but we never blackmailed him =) .

My Wife & Beyond

I met my wife in college and we were in the same program, taught in the same school and later stayed in the same home, because well, we got married. There was no way that I would've met her if not for being in the same college as we were from two different parts of the country.

Aside from my wife, I am also thankful for my current workplace. I am the youngest teacher trainer there. Most of my colleagues are at least 10 years my senior. That best thing about that is they treat me as their padawan or child. They have also never failed to give me some really great advice. Such advice does not only encompass teaching but in areas of finances and life in general. Through them, I have benefited much and if not for their distilled collective experience, I would probably still be rather confused when it comes to money.

Nominations:

For this challenge, I will nominate @elizacheng, @orangila and @zord189.

What are the rules of this challenge?

• Write a post about something you have to be positive about today - this could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit - just keep it positive :)
• Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
• Mention three people who should do this on each day.
• Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
  (Tip: You need to put the # in front of 7daypositivitychallenge or it will not let you use the tag.)
• Include a picture of something positive (related to your story if possible).

Thank you @lymepoet for nominating me! You can find the original challenge post here:
"7 Day Positivity Challenge" by @conradt

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