3 Things I Wish I Knew As a Child 👧👦(A Nonfiction Essay)

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        3 Things I Wish I Knew As a Child

In the last few weeks, I went to a primary school in Johor for my School-Based Experience as a trainee teacher. Based on my observation of the children in that school, there are three things that make me wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self about it.

1. My parents had invested so much for me
   Firstly, I wish I knew that my parents had invested so much for me. I realised this when I saw the commitment of parents who really invested their time, energy and money for their children’s education and development, although they were already busy with their job. When I was in that school, there was a sports day event going on. The school invited all parents to join the event to see their children’s performance in sports. Surprisingly, most of the parents eventually showed up in that event to give support to their children. I think their willingness to take a day off from their job for the sake of their children’s development in school deserved a commendation. This reminded me of my parents, who would sit beside me every night to accompany me in studying and teach me on things that I did not understand, although they could have used that time to rest after working the whole day. At that time, I wish I knew how much my parents had invested for me, so that I could study harder to make all their sacrifices worth it.

2. Stop buying useless crap
   Next, I wish I knew that I did not have to buy things that I found rather interesting, but did not carry any practical value. Based on my observation in that school, there was a stall that sold inappropriate toys like chewing gum cockroach trick toys and sweets for the children during the sports day. This stall attracted many children and therefore the money that was given by their parents in hope for them to buy something that might benefit them was wasted on these useless crap. As a child, I also tend to invest in these items such as toys and sweets that could only trigger my short-term enjoyment. Therefore, I wish my younger self would know this lesson, so that I could learn to put my temporary desires aside and use the money that was given from my parents for other important things.

3. I got scolded because I was loved and cared
   Thirdly, I wish I knew that if somebody, whether it was parents or teachers, scolded me, this indicated that they loved and cared about me. As what I experienced in that school, the teachers were having a hard time disciplining hundreds of pupils at the same time. Therefore, the teachers had to apply assertive classroom management in which they raised their voice to make the pupils listened to them. This reminded me of one of my primary school teachers who scolded me because of my terrible handwriting. At that time, I thought that the teacher hated me so much. Only if I knew at that time that was her way to show her love and care toward me, I would never think bad about her and appreciate her for pointing out the aspect that I needed to improve on in order to be someone with a good handwriting in the future.

   In conclusion, there are three things that I wish I knew when I was a child based on my observation as a trainee teacher in a primary school during the School-Based-Experience in Johor. These three valuable lessons make me want to go back to my childhood and change the way I look at things.