My little niece, Van, when asked what she would be when she grew up, replied "A Police Officer". Then she added, ..."but mommy said police officer works long hours for not very much pay." Van said her aspiration is actually better than her friend who wants to be a Parking Attendant..LOL! The boy thought it was an easy job and you get paid on the spot. In the meantime, my other niece, Linds, who absolutely loves animal says when she grows up she wants to be a Vet who can communicate with every animal in their own languages.
Everyone had a ..."when I grow up I want to be"... dreams at one point of their life. So what did you say when you were asked? A Doctor? An Engineer? In Indonesia it is common we heard parents directed their kids to choose this two professions because they pay quite well. They wanted us to aim a little higher and better than them but to be a doctor or an engineer you have to go to school for like eight years. What about being a teacher? I've never met a kid who wants to be a teacher. It's a noble profession and all that, but unfortunately teachers in Indonesia are the most underpaid professional job. We all know, being a teacher is not easy. They work for several hours and even more unpaid hours, when planning lessons, tests and assessments, grading homework, etc. Teaching surely is not for the weak and faint of heart. It's very tough these days esp. when you have to deal with troubled kids and rude behaviour. Some teachers care, others don't...but the ones I know of really cared about their students. Where would we be without them?note : The pictures above were taken in Xaverius Elementary School in Gisting, Bandar Lampung, Sumatra. Me and my other seven siblings all finished our elementary education there. The teacher in the picture was formerly my eldest sister classmate.
2 comments:
Being a teacher is a challenging career, because not only you have to deal with a lot of different characters of your students, but you are also responsible of shaping up their minds and ways of thinking.
Not many teachers in Indonesia realize the powers they have within their students because they are only doing teaching as a profession sufficient enough so that at least the students don't fail.
I don't remember any of the stuff that I had to memorise during my academic years, but I do remember some teachers who were really passionate about their subjects and really wanted to make differences to the world by expanding their students' knowledge.
Like Robin Williams in Dead Poet Society and Mr. Kobayashi in Totto-chan :)
I like all of my old teachers except the one who gave me 5 for art class in high school. Whaaat? He hated me.
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