MY JOURNEY OF BECOMING AN EDUCATOR....

Today I met DKA 5C and DKA 5B for the first time. This is really first time because I have never taught them before. I've instructed my semester five students to do some " light reading " during the CNY holiday...

So dear students, this is your first task....

I obtained 5As for my Standard 5 Assessment Examination and it was one of the happiest thing ever happened to me. The whole family was actually shocked as I announced the result to them. It was because of my not so impressive 1A and 4Bs of my trial examination. Most of my family members bet that the best that I could get may possibly be a combination of 3As and 2Bs, looking at the level of no seriousness in my attempts to revise and prepare myself towards the examination. But being a so called gifted child, I have actually surprised them with my unexpected success.


I continued my secondary years in Sekolah Menengah Sains Tengku Abdullah ( SEMESTA ), a boarding school not so far from my own house. Initially, I was a bit disappointed of not getting the offer to other far, far away schools such as STF, Seri Puteri or TKC. But to my own astonishment, though the school was only 7 kilometres away from home, I did experienced home sickness and was actually sobbing under the blanket every night before going to sleep. My family had to come and visit me every week at the hostel as requested by me.


I became an average student and did not perform well in school due to my playful and again not serious attitudes towards my study. My marks will always range between C5 to C3. We were divided into sets for our English class where they were determined by our English performance in the cloze test which we have to take in the beginning of early year of the school session and quite surprisingly, I did very well for all my tests. I was always a Set A student.
My utmost ambition was to be a psychologist, specializing on kids and adolescents. I love working with kids and I always pictured myself being interviewed in television, giving my opinions and views on issues regarding kids and youngsters.


I might be destined to be a late bloomer, for my SPM result was not very good. I only managed to get 2nd Grade with 25 aggregates which I regretted because earlier my aunty had promised that she would buy gold necklace and bracelet if I got 1st grade. For the whole day of the result’s announcement I was saying to myself if only I got 24 aggregate, I must now be on my way to the goldsmith.


It was in November 1991 when I was half way through my lower six that I got an offer to do Diploma in Public Administration in ITM Shah Alam. Again I was a little bit frustrated since I actually prayed to get a place in ITM Dungun but I accepted the offer and in early December I was off to Shah Alam.


My attitudes changed dramatically and I became more attentive towards my study. I was more serious and managed to get good marks for almost every course that I took. What really surprised me was I managed to get 4.0 for my business mathematics paper which was really a huge thing. I managed to obtain 3.5 and received the Deans Award for my first semester.


I did not expect that I would get an offer for the teacher training course as I was not performing well during the UKELP test and interview session. Being typical Malay elders, my grandfather and father urged me to accept the offer. I actually wanted to continue my study in ITM but because of not wanting to be anak derhaka, I have to follow their decisions. And again, in early July 1992, off to Raja Melewar Teaching College I was sent to which I also reluctantly accepted since my cousin was already there and I would rather go elsewhere.


My five semester stay in Seremban was full of memories. A lot of things happened to me as I eventually became more matured. We learnt a lot of things academically as well as things in everyday life. Having the opportunity to watch a movie specially dedicated to teachers in conjunction with Teacher’s Day entitled Cikgu Limau Kasturi had changed my perceptions drastically about being a teacher. Then only I knew that the movie was actually based on a real story of Nazri, who happened to be my friend when I was teaching in Petaling Jaya. By the end of my teaching course, I was engaged to Mohd. Khaizuzafarin bin Bedalib, who was a friend from the next class which was actually beyond my expectation.


I was first posted to Sek. Keb. LKTP Kemasul, a remote Felda settlement school in Triang, Pahang. It was a medium sized school with about less than 1,000 students and we were staying in quarters. It was the first time that I experienced 12 hours supply of electricity and at first it was not a pleasant one. I learnt a lot of valuable things of my 7 months stay in the school. Though they were under privileged in so many ways, the students were very enthusiastic and they valued education as something crucial for them to grasp. There was once when a group of parents came to see me asking whether they can send their children to stay with me for several days in a week so that the students can get extra coaching especially in English. So, every Tuesdays and Wednesdays nights, I was sleeping with a few of my Year 3 girls and boys.
In early August 1995, I shifted to SRK ( 1 ) Taman Dato’ Harun in Petaling Jaya. My expectations of much better teaching scenarios compared to the previous school shattered as I started my first day in the school. The students were from Taman Dato’ Harun, which was a resettlement housing area for ex – squatter residents and their attitudes towards education and learning were extremely different. There was once, when almost three quarter of my English class admitted that they did not bring their textbook though in reality there were less than 10 pupils who actually did that. This was because to them, it is much better if everybody resort to the same excuse so that lesson will not be carried out. I was actually teaching them English in Bahasa Melayu.


My application to transfer to a nearer school was approved, so in August 1997, I shifted to Sek.Keb. Taman Sea in SS2, Petaling Jaya. Since I was staying in Section 19, I took the opportunity to walk everyday to school. I had a totally different experience teaching in the school. Everybody speaks English and we even have to teach Bahasa Melayu in English. The headmaster appointed me as the secretary of PTA because I can communicate in English and I can write in BM, of course. Here, I had to teach Year One and they became so attached to me since I treated them as my own child for at that moment I was childless.


In middle of October 1998, I received an offer to further my study in UPSI majoring in TESL. I was rather sad and cried for days because I had to leave my precious 1 Bestari students. A Chinese couple came to see me asking whether it was true that they heard I was going to leave the school from their daughter who was crying all the way back from school. A few days before I actually leave the school, several parents came and they gave a lot of gifts and presents including a set of necklace and bracelet ( though was not real pearls ) that I kept until today.
After finishing my study in October 2001, I was posted to SMK Kuala Kubu Bharu though I applied to teach in Pahang. Teaching in secondary school was very different from teaching in primary schools. Though they were much more manageable, they were also full of tricks. Apart from being a teacher, I was also appointed as a warden and I had to take care of about 98 teenage girls that I found to be fun but sometimes challenging. I tried a new approach in managing them where instead of portraying a serious and fierce image of warden as they always described to me, I treat them as growing kids. Instead of getting angry when they did something wrong, I always advise and motivate them in a different approach. We always have party and gathered as one big family and we spent the weekend doing things together. I made them feel more freely in approaching me if they have anything to share.


I had to leave the school in 2003 after getting an offer to be a lecturer in Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah ( formerly known as Politeknik Tanjong Malim ). Teaching older groups of students to me sometimes are more challenging than teaching in schools as their attitudes and expectations towards education were so different compared to their school years. I tried to be more approachable and tried to change their attitudes especially towards language learning. I realized that in making them see the importance of education and language learning, many things and changes should be made. I tried to minimize the gap between me and them so that they feel that the role of their instructors were not only restricted to giving them the input but also nurturing, inculcating good values as well as to motivate them.


I am so grateful to Allah because he had given me the opportunity to have the experience of teaching all levels of students. I used to teach students in kindergarten ( I did part time teaching when I was in PJ ), primary, secondary and adults. All the exposures and experiences had broaden my perspectives of becoming an educator where I played several kinds of roles and making me understand more about the students’ needs and expectations of learning especially language learning.


My ultimate gratitude goes to Allah s.w.t for all the blessings and thank you to my dearest Abah…who eventually forced me to become a teacher. Thank you to my most lovable Chittapa / Tok Aki and my Uwan for taking care of me since I was a baby and loving me dearly for the last 33 years so that I grew up to be a humble person and are able to share all the love with everybody else. Thank you to my Emak…who gave birth to me and were always there when I need her. Thank you also to my Ngah, Mummy, Cik, Papa and Mama who have constantly motivated and support me in spirit as well as financially throughout my journey of becoming what I am today. Not forgetting my Pak Long, Pak Andak and Mak Andak, Pak Uda and Mak Uda as well as my Teh Nah for always remembering and praying for my success. Of course for my Kak Long and Abang Man too, my brothers, Khairul, Izad and Azri, my in laws Kak Ano and Abang Aziz, Kak Erie and Abang Said, nieces, nephews, relatives and especially my children and grandchildren for always loving me and adding colours and joy to my life. Lastly, to my husband who continuously supporting me and had become my tutor, counsellor, best friend and sometimes ATM for the 12 years of our marriage.

J