There are many reasons for why I love my job. One of them is that working with freshman students reminds me a lot of working with first graders. In high school, Chinese students – generally speaking – have to work and study so hard that literally they hardly have time to live, enjoy life, spend time with friends, develop socially. So, when they come to university, in many ways they are like little children, just discovering the world. Many a times, therefore, I’ve had it happen to me that I’d run into one of my students outside of class, and their excitement about seeing me overpowers any reservations – they wave at me with great enthusiasm, give me a big hug – just like a first grader would do – and tell me how excited they are to see me!

Or they keep telling me about how they love their English teacher (that’s me!), and how beautiful they think she is (that’s me again – though basically every foreigner is beautiful/handsome in their eyes).

Or they are eager to clean the blackboard for me.

Or their faces light up when I bring candy to class.

Or, upon starting the class, I get greeted with a choir of voices: “Good morning, teacher!”

Or all those lovely messages I receive – many of them starting with “Dear teacher …,” or end with “… wish you a happy everyday!”

Or …

Well, with all these reasons (and many more), how could I not love my job?

Saying Thanks

I’m thankful for my students, and the time I get to spend with them.