That paper is mine.

Only after starting my education degree have I realised how much effort, time and dedication is required to becoming a teacher and getting your hands on that degree. That certificate in the end. To say that I never really honestly appreciated the hard work my teachers went through before becoming a teacher and subsequently after becoming a teacher, is fair. All that time spend studying at university then coming out and applying everything they learned and spending all that time, energy and effort on us (students) is tough work. I have certainly felt it already, even in my first year.

This blog post is mainly to apologize to all the teachers I've had, especially substitute and casual teachers, for not respecting you at times and appreciating what you had to do prior to the lessons, before walking through that door. Thank you for all your support that you have given me and it certainly has shed a new light to the way I view teachers.

P.S. Education is really hard. Somebody help get my sanity back.

Teaching the world to grow.

One thing I can't stand is people criticizing  my choice to become a teacher. People constantly stigmatize me with their dogma on money, educating me on what I should do to make as money as possible. Choices of business investment, property investment, stocks, doctoring and so on. But I say, if you are not interested in any of those areas, how likely and how successful are you going to be to make money from it?

I want to become a teacher not because of the above average wages or the number of holidays you get. I want to be a teacher because of my philosophy on education. Only through education, can you teach, educate, inspire, motivate and aspire students to become better than the teacher is, to push the world further in technology and intellectual abilities, the reason why we are not in the stone age, or stigmatized by the religious dark ages.

Teachers propel students to be high achievers and make them see themselves for who they really are, only one of my aims. I want to make a difference in students, in the people of the future, who will lead the world when I retire. I want the people who will lead the world to be people better than I am, to be educated civilians where they will remember my name.

Teachers can and will make a difference in the world for the better. What difference in the world, or influence on people do investors have besides to make more money for themselves?

A Lesson About Life.

I have decided to take this time and dedicate this blog post to my high school teachers, especially the ones who I have become quite attached to during my HSC year.

First of all, to Ms. M. West. She has been the most kind-hearted teacher outside classroom hours, always giving us treats during exams and cakes during class lessons as a random act of kindness (She is strict when it's actually time to work). I really appreciate her dedication towards providing me with great knowledge on Economics, something which I am able to take away and apply it to my life as I open the paper each morning. I will not forget those lessons where I have been imbecilic and chatted away to my friends because I found the lesson boring. Mind you, I didn't like the writing aspect. I like the discussion aspect, even though I never usually discussed anything. Probably just me trying to get out of work. Nonetheless, she still continued to press me to work harder and study, to get the marks. I eventually did and I thank you Ms. West for the patience you have also put into me.

Secondly, to Mr. T. Petrohilos. I must say, he has a wonderful sense of humour. Mathematical humour that is. He looks old but his heart and spirit is young. He is lively, entertaining (it's maths), and very committed to his work. I have too many past HSC Trials and past HSC papers that I don't know what to do with them. Nobody burns maths! It's too full of the wisdom and knowledge in numbers. Thank you to sir who really showed the class he cared about our future and even surprised our class with pizzas and soft drinks one day. That was definitely memorable. Maths is something I must do because I don't know what else to do if I didn't do maths. I will be taking maths with me everywhere. It is inevitable, from mortgage calculations (loan repayments) to interest rates (compound interest) and even when I throw a few dollars around on the Casino tables (probability).

Thirdly, Mr. B. White. One of the people I admire for possessing such a phenomenal brain. I still don't understand how he is able to pick up any text and analyse it critically on the spot. I nickname him the walking encyclopedia. He possesses an enormous amount of information and is able to retain them. How he does it still baffles me. But what he did teach me is to try and develop a large vocabulary as well as how to write better essays. Even though it was primarily just reading and analysing, the concept was interesting to try and grasp. It took me a while before I finally understood what "Navigating the Global" was all about. It has been a very interesting experience together, constantly learning new things and appreciating the dedication he put into improving my essays and story.

Next, Mr. A. Shipp. He is the law. The one who taught me about how Australia and the world operated in terms of the legal system and the consequences if broken. I guess we all fear the law, but then again, we never fear it in other aspects. He has become more than a teacher, but a friend. He has treated me and the rest of the class with warmth and gratitude, leaving us with more than just class work to ponder until the next lesson. He is a great motivator and inspiring teacher with plenty of quotes to keep us entertained. I love philosophy and thought so he has provided me with hours and days of thought on some topics. He is passionate about what he teaches and does it with style. Will be missing this chap.

I have certainly saved the best till last. For obvious reasons.

Ms. C. Ansoul. I couldn't write everything I wanted to write about her on the yearbook so I will attempt to readdress that here. She is my favourite teacher (still is) and has been for the last six years. No lesson with her is a boring one, even when she is in a bad mood (cause unknown). There is some sort of aura around her which brings fun, enjoyment and interaction to every English lesson. There is talk, jokes and my all time favourite, stories about her youth, her teenage years (her crushes) and her travelling experiences. There is still so much to learn, but the time is up. Wish it passed more slowly. Her sense of humour is terrific (but there are some that get on her nerves). She loves to crack jokes (and only SOME laugh WITH her), and show off her interpretive dancing skills. Well, we still haven't seen any yet to be honest. I am disappointed. She has provided me with knowledge and skill on how to organise (or how NOT to organise) a classroom lesson. The method of her teaching is especially something I admire and wish to adopt: controlling a class with no effort. I thank her for all the work she put into improving my English (being my second language) and with few words spoken, told me how hopeless my creative stories are. Let's admit it, my stories are beyond confusing.

To all my teachers: Thank you once again. I appreciate the kindness you have placed thus. You are my idols.

Headache.

I don't know about the experience of anyone else, but I find it ridiculously difficult to try and think of something as a present for a teacher. What exactly do you give to say, a Mathematics teacher? An English teacher? Perhaps something in their field would be nice, but I think giving them something in their field is more or less stereotypical and it would be nice for them to take their minds off what they teach, temporarily.

I am stuck and out of creativity in terms of getting something for teachers. Perhaps I could make something by myself, but that just makes things worse. What do I make? It leads to more complex questions to answer than the first time round.

Hope everything turns out good in the end.