Let's rewind to the moment when she first stepped into my new form 4 class......
She came in with a steady control on her walking style while clutching her Form 4 history textbook in one of her arm.The first words she uttered was her distress over the cleanliness of my class and immediately ordered the student on duty to empty the rubbish bin.
To be honest,some of my friends,or should I say most,were terrified with her stern look the moment she walked into our class.And we were running scared of her after she explained the endless list of rules that we had to follow strictly during her classes.The rule which I still remember is no looking out through the windows to take a peek at what's going on in the field,a rule that I found pretty hard to follow in the beginning!
As time passed by,all of us learned that she wasn't just an ordinary teacher who threw unimportant rules at her fellow students,but a rather kind woman who had an excellent way of teaching her students history so that they would find it very interesting.Well,I did find her classes very interesting because she always had a deep knowledge about the topic that she was teaching.
The best part of her classes was when she incorporated daily happenings into her lectures and always showed us that history repeats itself in one way or another.She would always go"Dot,let's stop our lesson for a while" and continue with her stories of recent events that have connections to history.To me,students don't feel bored in her class because she always added some sensible and sometimes humorous points to her stories.And that's how I managed to score well for my history paper during the Year-End Examinations.
Well,let's get back to reality and all I can say about the past few days is emotional.She started crying on Tuesday and did so every consecutive day till Friday whenever her students came to see her a say their goodbyes.I didn't have much time to see her and even missed her farewell speech to my classmates due to my athletics training.However,I did steal some class time to say my last words of gratitude to her.
When I met her that Thursday,she told me that she will always remember me as the person who reminded her of the name of the place that the British had exchanged with the Dutch during one of her classes.It was indeed touching that such a small thing could actually have such an impact on such a great person.
So,why was she leaving?
Well,after some investigation,my friend found out that my teacher had voiced out something during a teachers meeting.Apparently,my teacher voiced out something about the uniformed bodies camp(Kem Perdana) and the Parent Teacher Association in my school.The headmistress got angry and fired them from my school,just like that.What a way to "appreciate" such a great teacher.I have no idea what was running in the headmistress' mind when she made that decision.
What's gone is gone and there's no point fretting over it.Her departure will no doubt be a very great loss to not only the students but to the teachers of my school as well.She was such a great teacher that no one was ready to let go of her so soon.
You know,on Friday(her last day),I asked her to stop crying.She told me that how could a mother not weep when she was about to leave all her children who were crying and go to a another place.That's when I realized that she had always treated us like her own children,regardless of race or religion.Her passion for the profession of teaching and her motherly love for us will be sorely missed.................
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