The new life has begun; and I know for some reason I won’t have much chance being with my family. Isn’t that the way it has been for several years? However, I can strongly feel it’s the end. I started to read Amy Tan’s new book “Saving Fish from Drowning”. It’s a hilarious book with a sense of humor that makes me laugh. The first time I read Amy Tan, I was a junior in high school. It’s the novel “The Joy Luck Club”. I even told my pen pal that book would become very popular. It proved I was darn right. Okay, I know what you’re thinking. I did have some pen pals in high schools, mainly for practicing English. You had no idea how I was attracted to the language. I used to watch L.A. Law in order to learn English.
My high school math teacher said math was very important and if we didn’t study it hard, we would be a failure in life later. Screw the heck out of him! I didn’t like math was because the way he taught. His handwriting was so small and his voice so weak, we could barely hear him. This kind of teacher is basically unqualified. If I were the dean, I would fire him first!
So, one day, I brought ten English books, including my favorite novels, scattering all of them on my tiny desk in the math class. I didn’t take out my math textbook, nor did I listen to the whole lesson. I knew the teacher noticed what I was doing but he didn’t say a word; instead he went to our class teacher and complained about my audacious and rude behavior. Was I audacious and rude? I was just trying to show my discontentment and protested I disagreed with what he said.
Why didn’t he ask me I hated math? As the matter of the fact, I loved math, especially when I was in junior high. My beloved math teacher was one of the best. He made learning math so fun and easy. I thought about going into the scientific filed because it was not only my childhood dream but also the encouragement of that great math teacher. Yet all had changed after entering high school. I failed on math for my junior and senior years in high school and didn’t bother to take the make-up tests. I hated math or I should say I hated the incompetent teacher!
Years later, while I was studying in the Untied States, I wanted to prove that I could learn math well. So I took calculus which wasn’t required by my major, linguistics. But I did it anyway and I got an A. I know nothing is hard as long as I want to accomplish. Damn the math teacher! I’m now an English teacher myself but sometimes I think back how teachers could ruin a student’s life and self-confidence. Fortunately, I wasn’t affected by that. And I have to say I had so many great experiences due to my language skills…
On the other hand, you can tell I like to challenge authority, which can be very catastrophic at times. I know we all have to bend a little bit, tolerate a little bit because not everything will fall on our track. I know being a human being, we are gregarious and it would be dreadful staying secluded. Nonetheless, it is good to get away from the daily routine, people, work, and let oneself sink to the very bottom of personal contemplation in this universe.
I still have to say thank you to the high school math teacher. Without him, I wouldn’t have known how to be a better teacher myself. What’s wrong being a garbage collector? Why does everyone have to be a doctor, scientist, teacher, or president? What makes our world so precious? Isn’t it the diversity and different layers of thoughts diffusing in our society? I still believe the dictum said by Confucius: Teaching students according to each individual’s talent and capability.
I’m in the mood for some Norwegian music. Yeah, I’m going to listen to Silje Vige...
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