Why do I do what I do? Why am I here?
And every day I answer
Because this is what I love.
Because this is what I am meant to do.
Despite the lack of sleep, the frustrating moments of being misunderstood, feeling like I’m “speaking a totally foreign language” or that others around me are speaking a foreign language, despite being half way around the world from my family, I do not wish to be doing anything other than living in Malaysia and teaching at SMK Labis.
Every day I smile. Every day there are so many things to be happy about. Yesterday I laughed with a student as he painted his toenails during recess. Two weeks ago I helped a baby kitten, taking her to the vet to get eye drops for her infected eye and to the pet store for deworming pills and milk before returning her to her mother, only to see her health improved the next time I saw her. (There are a few “school cats” that roam around our campus, including two kittens.) Whether it’s dancing Gangnam Style with my students, singing “What a Wonderful World” with the incredible women in the canteen, or celebrating with the Bahasa Malaysia debate team when they win the semi-finals competition, I smile.
Dancing Gangnam Style at the end of class
Perhaps one of my favorite daily moments is seeing the faces of the special needs students shine with happiness as I greet them. I love working with these students. They always want to talk to me and learn from me despite their minimal English skills. On Thursday, one of the students took me by the hand, led me into her classroom, followed by several of her classmates, and asked me to teach them English. With pleasure! And they didn’t want me to stop. They just wanted to keep learning.
With a couple of the Special Needs students
Sometimes I feel like I am not making much of an impact. Sometimes I wonder how I can do better. But then a student whom I do not see in class will come to me and ask me to talk with her so that she can improve her English skills. And we’ll sit and talk for an hour.
Impacts start small. You can only walk a mile by taking one step at a time. For example, the standard response for “How are you?” is “I am fine.” Not anymore. No longer are my students just “fine.” They may be “not fine” or “tired,” but more often than not, they are “excellent,” “awesome,” “happy,” and “very very very good”! My students can now find North Carolina on a map. My students now know about ultimate Frisbee. My students have celebrated diversity and have worn two different colored shoes to school to show their acceptance of differences. I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish in the next eight months.
The Bahasa Malaysia Debate team preparing for the Finals Competition!
I am blessed to be here in Malaysia. I cannot believe that two months of my ten month contact have already passed. I love every minute of it. Every moment makes me stronger. Every day there are many things that make me smile.
The wonderful women in the canteen
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