[Vietnamese Teachers' Day -20/11] Mrs. Thanh Ngoc – my inspirational teacher
Teachers are guardians leading students through the vast sea of knowledge, committed and passionate, yet never do they voice their contribution to the development of students. However, for students, especially me, having been through those school years of so many pure and pleasant memories, it is impossible to forget about those devoted guardians. I am overwhelmed with feelings whenever I look back on the times I had with them because they are the ones who have raised me up, taught me to be more mature in both my actions and perceptions on life. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this article to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ngoc – our dearest Geography teacher, with much respect and love!
The first time I met her, I was immediately drawn to her sweet smile and her petite figure. With a bright smile and a pink laptop in her arms, she hurriedly walked into the class. She was a bit anxious at the first meeting with her new class, maybe? That very first day still lives long in my memory. Her first lesson with our class was “The Universe. The Solar system and the Earth”. The atmosphere throughout the whole lesson was enthusiastic and lively with an interesting slide and an easy yet entertaining assignment. That was when I knew that she would be the perfect teacher for us all. She is indeed a friendly, delightful, thoughtful and understanding teacher.
She is not our form teacher, but just a teacher of our second specialized subject, so we only get to see her 2-3 times a week. She really understands us and her talk is always very sincere and caring. She even spent the first class she had with us to have a little chat with the class, to get to know her new students more. As a young teacher, she never forces us to do something according to rigid rules and it feels very lively and fun to be taught by her. My whole class loves her without exception. That is why we look forward to every single Geography class with her because we know that she will always brings into the lessons entertaining and surprising factors. Furthermore, we are interested in her lessons due to the engaging way she presents the topics. Not only do we acquire a great deal of knowledge but we also get to listen to her valuable advice.
The most special thing about her is her ability to connect and understand students. The more I get to know her, the more I admire her. She does not constrain us in an absolute way of studying, but provides different opportunities and encourages us to come up with our own novel ways of learning. The thing that touches us the most is how Mrs. Ngoc treats every individual with respect and absolute trust. As a result, we all try our very best to come up to her expectations. After each lessons, I feel like we all get to know each other more and become considerably closer. She told me about the old days, when she was still student just like we are now, how she became a teacher, as well as those tiny little things in her daily life. It is those seemingly ordinary pieces of stories that have strengthened our connection. To our class, she is a kind and compassionate older sister, a young and thoughtful teacher and a friend who we students can look up to and rely on for guidance in life.
She once said to me: “Being a teacher is no easy job; there are times I struggled to come up with lessons for my students. However I feel very happy to be a teacher. I am happy to have you with me; to witness you growing each day encourages me to try even harder to pull through the challenges that I have to face. I have seen so many students graduating from our school, all of them so happy and lively. Many don’t remember my name and they only recognize me as the Geography teacher. But there are students who actually love and wish to major in this subject, which makes me so touched that at least I have inspired them in some ways.”
There are times that, I have to admit, we do not prepare our lessons as carefully as we should have at home or we talk during class. But please, Ms. Ngọc, don’t get upset, because we love you and we promise to become more disciplined and obedient students.
It is undeniably true that: “The lessons that teachers write onto the whiteboard of life will never be erased”. So will our feelings, our love and respect for our Geography teacher will not diminish with time. She is the one who has had huge influence on me and I now realize that being a teacher is a very honorable and admirable career to pursue. Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude, from the bottom of my heart, towards her. I am grateful to have received such interesting lessons and those phone calls after I participated in competitions. I hope that she will get my feelings and gratitude. I know she will.
Reporter: Hồng Anh – Geography 1316
Translator: Anh Duong A1 1417
