Being A Teacher

Reading Pak Markus' notes in the Facebook, I suddenly remembered one of my precious experiences in teaching. This is one of the experiences that encouraged and strengthened my will to be a teacher.

His name is Fir. A troublemaker in school. He never had any friend for more than two months. The other teachers hated him that much, the other students alienated him. He skipped class often, mostly without giving prior notification. Nobody would like to be with him. Nerd, lazy, unsociable, your usual bullied kid. Yet, he was introverted.

Fir joined the English Debate Society, an extracurricular where I served as the trainer. The same fate happened here, since nobody voluntarily be in a team with him.

During his first debate tournament, he already caused problem, for both his team, the other team, and me as the trainer. He came late to the venue, since he knew not of the way, and he rode his bike to go to the venue. Twenty kilometers. He brought no cellphone, so there was no way to contact him. It caused his team to be disqualified. One of the adjudicators who happened to hold a grudge to me, blamed me in front of the public. Well, I didn't and never hold a grudge towards Fir though. I tried to console and calm him, when he faced the sinister looks from the adjudicators and some friends. He almost cried and felt very guilty for that. I didn't want to add his burden.

As time went by, his social life showed no improvement, leaving him teamless. However, I knew that I could help him. I approached him not as a teacher, not as a trainer, but as a senior, as a brother, and as a friend. He started telling me his problem, his family life, as well as his financial problem which made him feel inferior.

As a second year college student, I didn't really know what I should do. However, I believed that trusting him was something that I could at least do. I tried so hard to involve him in any activities. Though he was teamless, I tried to involve him in the practice by taught him how to adjudicate. Thus, he could still participate in the events. With his knowledge in computer and technology, I gave him the chance to manage our website, our forum, and our friendster account. I told the others to consult him in terms of brainstorming about computer and technology.

It worked. He didn't feel left behind anymore. He started trusting me, he started to listen to what I said, and he started to work himself out.

In time of national exam, I always have this habit of texting my students. Hoping the best for them. And to my surprise, in the moment of graduation announcement, he was the first one to text me. He told me that he graduated and had already received scholarship from one of the computer institutes in Yogyakarta. He said thanks to me, for trusting him, for not leaving him behind. Deep down in my heart, I felt this burst of satisfaction. It felt more than thousand orgasms to me. That was one of the things that put me into belief that being a teacher open a door to a miraculous work. We can create a change!