Lifelong Learning

It had been a crazy rollercoaster month with almost no breathing space for me, and finally I could manage some down time here to rejuvenate and catch up with every one around me.

So yesterday I met up with an ex-student of mine for coffee, and one of the topics that we were talking about was career choices.

I told her about my story - my initial plans for a career in science, how participating in the JET program widened my horizons, and the path that I am taking now.

In hindsight, I guess I had never told this in depth to any of my students before, so she was pretty surprised at my thought process, and also at the fact that I was influenced and changed during the time I had spent in the small city where I taught.

I also shared with her how much I was learning from the students from my time spent as an educator, and till this day I am still very grateful to the many people whom I had met and made connections with.

To be honest when I was first tasked to teach them English, I was quite worried if I would in fact be of any help to them. But under the guidance of the veteran teachers I slowly came to understand how to best help the students out in their English education.

And as I found out that I was learning so much from the students just by listening to their experiences, I realized that I could bring more to the table by sharing my own experiences and thoughts as well, so as much as I could, I tried to chat and have discussions that are not academically related with them as well.

If any of my ex-students is/are reading this, I hope I somehow manage to do a good job hahaha. (Or at least I hope I inspired something in you!)

I believe that education is a lifelong process, and we never stop learning and discovering new ideas. By sharing what you know, you would also discover what you do not know, and that would definitely help you mature and grow into a better person.