Happy Teachers Day

This is not the only day I am reminded why I love my job so much. It is everyday. Two months into my new University job, the life of the professor is quite rewarding - not to mention the 4 day - 12 hour work week, but the renewed maturity from students in their freshman year. When I see the sparkle in my student’s eyes, I know that a small discovery is made. Be that a morsel of the English language or the crumb of a joke – I can tell when the light bulb goes on, even if it is low-watt. These people who listen to be jabber all day feed my passion by their attentiveness and challenge my patience with their squat enthusiasm. On Friday, I arrived to my Airline Services class minutes early to a locked classroom. After a succession of short knocks, one student decked out in her Flight Attendant uniform shyly exited and quickly closed the door behind her. “Teacher! You are so early!” I was in fact right on time. She dragged me down the hall with a mischievous smile that begged guilt. In a quick round about, we returned to the classroom and as we opened the door, the light from the candles on a big coconut cake shimmered as the girls began to sing a ditty in Hangul that was beyond me. Never mind the lack of language skills here – the cake was for me and so were the hundreds of scribbles on the white board – including “Will you marry me?” from this all-girls class. Wow! I was taken aback and had to choke down the tears of thankful joy and surprise. When I watched the video afterwards – I realized how goofy I looked – much like my mother at best! Teachers Day had come a week early because these lovely ladies were about to take a trip to Vietnam and would be absent during the real event to come. For a teacher to be recognized in such a non-obligatory ceremony was too much for words.