Teaching is a noble profession. It is a bliss to be in a profession where you are empowered to inspire and build future. I have never liked the education system I am a product of.
I strongly believe that a teacher, and not law or policy, has the power to correct the errors in our education system to a great extent.
As teacher’s day is fast-approaching, this is an open letter to one of the most amazing teachers in my life who corrected the flaws of education system for me.
Dear Yasmeen Ma’am,
I must begin this letter by appreciating you for who you are. You are one of those who inspire me to grow and compete with myself each day. You are one in a million. Not only you make an amazing teacher, but also a superb human being with a golden heart.
I want to tell you how you have impacted my life as a student. I owe a huge part of me to you. Here are three of your actions which touch my heart to date.
- You never compared me with my sibling
The story begins when you taught my elder sister. My sister had goodwill at school. She was multi-talented and there I was, a below-average student.
The problem was never my grades, but my unwillingness and unmotivated attitude. Nothing motivated me to study till you became my class teacher.
I loved the way you taught and dealt with the students. You used different pedagogies to teach us. I was adamant to do justice to your teaching and impress you. Yes, I know this sounds super silly, but I wanted better grades only to impress you.
Though in the beginning, my grades were just average, the fact that you never taunted us or looked down upon us based on our grades, got me going.
I am in love with the fact that you never compared me with my sibling. You treated all your students as individuals.
- Your gentle and wise behaviour towards your students
I still remember that rainy morning in 2011 when you showed us our answer scripts of mid-term examinations. I scored very low in your subject. Unlike some other teachers, while handling the answer scripts, you did not make any faces.
This came to me as a cultural shock.
Usually, teachers would taunt us for scoring bad. They would tell us that we are wasting our parent’s money. However, I still remember what you said that day and I quote, “Good and bad marks are part of life. They do not define you.”
When you saw a student crying over her marks you said, “I was an average student. Today, I am teaching you. Marks are less important, hard work and perseverance hold more weight.”
I still do not know how you said this. I saw no teacher in my school life holding an opinion similar to yours. You were very different from the other teachers. I remember you would give us cards on childrens’ day.
You would give us appreciation cards to acknowledge every small act of kindness or responsibility we did.
Such simple acts matter a lot to a student. I am grateful to you for your tenderness towards us.
- You are into learning and re-learning
It has been almost six years since you taught me, but you continue to inspire me. You are open and continuously learning and re-learning things.
I detest the fact that humans settle. After some point in life, they cease to work on themselves. They tend to value societal norms set for them, given their age and sex. When it comes to this pattern in teachers, I hate it even more.
A teacher should be the one who challenges the norms to set new ones. However, during my student life, I have seen very few teachers who are adamant to develop themselves—one who has a vision beyond their mundane life.
You are one of those. I feel so happy and proud to see you making videos, investing time in reading and photography.
You inspire me so much Yasmeen ma’am! You are everything I wish to be. You continue to teach me who to be in life.
Wishing you a very happy teacher’s day!
Yours sincerely,
Lubna Ismailee