Hi!

I haven't posted an update for about a week now. Although, I tried writing an update the other night, but it was only about a couple hundred of words. I've been occupied lately, not necessarily busy, but I just had to put some things in place and most of it came before writing. I call this the "trying to get my priorities" phase of my life wherein I try to make less bad decisions and more acceptable ones as I move forward. It sounds mature, but I'm still all over the place as of the moment.

I was recently hired as an English teacher to Korean students. The training started last Friday and I started my demo classes yesterday which will go on until Friday next week. Let me tell you this: I have never felt so fulfilled. The first student I had yesterday, Claire, was really nervous because of her level, but little did she know, I was just as nervous as she was. She was a bit scared to answer me, because she didn't want to make a mistake, but I encouraged her to answer anyway so I can correct her if she really was wrong. By the end of the class, she told me "Thank you, Teacher Dani! Nice meeting you!" and we said goodbye. After my demo with her, she gave her feedback to my superior and said "I was very satisfied with my teacher. She was really patient and gave me a lot of corrections. I learned a lot from Teacher Dani" (written in Korean). I failed the demo because I exceeded four more minutes than the allowed time for class, but everything else was graded 100. I wasn't disappointed that I failed the demo, because I knew those extra four minutes helped my student learn more. It was a pity, but thinking of how Claire was able to obtain more knowledge from me because of the extra minutes in class, I was satisfied.

Earlier this afternoon, I had two demo classes. One was to make up for yesterday's demo (the goal is to wrap up the lesson in time) and the other was for a new lesson. I met two new students today, Kyung Joon and Young Seon. They were both so adorable! Young Seon was so talkative and kept calling me "Teacher" after every end of her sentence. She was like "Is that okay, teacher?" "Is my pronunciation good, teacher?" "You're so cheerful today, teacher!" and so on. Kyung Joon on the other hand was really cute with how he kept apologizing. He was telling me "sorry teacher" for every single time he thought he got a wrong answer. My heart melted with how sweet they were!

I finished on time for Kyung Joon's lesson and only exceeded 19 seconds for Young Seon because she had a long goodbye message for me, which was really sweet. If the exceeded seconds would cause me to re-demonstrate another class tomorrow, I wouldn't have mind because Young Seon and I accomplished the lesson, it's just that she really wanted to express how thankful and happy she was before we said goodbye. When I went back to my boss, I asked him the result of my demonstrations and he showed me my students' feedback. Young Seon said she didn't find me any different from her existing instructor and that she was happy about my teaching. Meanwhile, Kyung Joon said I was very encouraging and patient with him. He also added "please say sorry to teacher for me, I will study better next time!" (written in Korean).

Reading their feedback and recalling how we ended our lesson earlier, it was really humbling to hear these words. They sounded nothing but genuine. They were thankful and happy and it really melted my heart! It was a lot of fun teaching them. They were so enthusiastic in class and very cooperative and I'm glad I didn't become an intimidating teacher. The last thing I want is for them to be scared of me. I used to be scared of my teachers because of how they handled their classes and how they sounded like they were always annoyed and because of that, I didn't ask much questions and didn't have me corrected. That's something I don't want my students to feel when they're in class with me. So I'm really happy I made a good impression and taught them well!

Teaching was never a dream of mine, but I wouldn't deny the fact that I was somehow good with people. I guess it just comes from being interested in getting to know them, their way of life and their culture. I always thought I never had the patience to teach, but it turned out, I was so patient I was exceeding time. It was so fulfilling and it somehow humbles you. From the beginning, the goal was to keep the job. But ever since I first taught my first student, the goal was now to make sure they learn.

So yes, I hope I'll be able to give my future students good classes and fun lessons in the future. I have more demos before the company decides to endorse me as a regular teacher, but I know I'll be able to do it if I just keep a positive head and just think of giving the best for my students (and also be mindful of my allowed lesson time). This is an exciting new path for me!! I don't know if I'll be doing this for a long, long time, but I know that when I look back, I'd be happy I did this.

Dani.