“I teach students, not subjects.”
-Unknown
I’ve been an educator for, at least, three years, now. Moreover, I’m closing in on my first year as a big boy teacher and I’m beyond proud of myself. I have seen and endured a lot and I still got one more month before the 2021-2022 school year closes out. But, what got me the most is the additional responsibilities of a teacher; it was a welcoming surprise.
Well, I’m back at school. Actually, I was back at school for a moment, then we were forced to go into lockdown, again, and, finally, able to leave my community…again. However, China’s Labour Day holiday is coming up so you can imagine my reservation about things getting back to normal. Nevertheless, I do have something to share…
This week and last week have been a trial of patience, devocation, and dedication for everybody at Limai. Teaching online with students who either have the attention span of a hummingbird or who just don’t like the idea of an online class. I mean…I didn’t like the idea of online classes when I was at university so how the hell was I going to convey the importance of it to my students. But I did my best…
Leon: Justin, your book is out.
Me: Short story.
Leon: Point being, you need to celebrate. You deserve to celebrate.
There’s a certain level of madness that comes with a work that has been released. A few years ago, I released my first literary work “Dimensions: The College Years” to mediocre success. And, all the way, I took part in a lot of mistakes and missteps which made me a better writer and a smarter businessman. Now, I can take the knowledge I’ve acquired and put it into the future work.
With only a few days before the release of the first short story from this project, there is one more thing I want to do. I would to like to provide thanks to a few people that has helped me with staying focused and calmed during this project.
Life doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It’s takes and takes and takes.
– Aaron Burr, Hamilton, “Wait for It”
Learning that I’m not as spry as I use to be is a reality that I’m slowly coming to grips with. For the third in my life, I got sent home due to a medical inconveniences. First time was when I was a stocker for the Burlington Coat Factory warehouse when I had an ingrown hair that became a painful nuisance. Then, I got my wisdom teeth pulled due to its growing danger. Now, I had to deal this pesky discomfort in my throat that’s preventing me from teaching. The latter is something that got me really thinking about it.
My brother and one of my closest friends had a field day at my expense after what happened a week ago. Long story short, I didn’t learn from my lesson from a few months ago and tried to do so many things at once. So, yeah, I almost had a fainting episode in front of my students and I got send home because of it. It was an unsettling feeling but I should provide some backstory to this one.
There was no way I teach these kids without laughing at their antics. There are so adorable when they are being…well…kids. But there was a situation that took all of us by surprise. Spoiler alert! I tried my hardest not to laugh as the event unfolded at the time. Actually, I’m still trying not to laugh as I type this out.
There is so much work that I have completed for my pending release of my SS Project and my teaching responsibilities is actually stabilizing it now that the summer vacation is coming to an end. So, I go back to having two days off a week and I think I can get all of this short stories typed up and send off to editors before the end of the month. But that’s a story for another time. Right now, I want to get into the second part of what I happened to me.
I had a good cry, as of recently. It was a momentary break that was needed. I was told that I was misinformed about my status a man. Moreover, I was enlightened by the fact that I deserve to have a cry every now and again because of my “unique” status as an “outsider waving through a window”. I had my friend, Levana and Bernard, to remind me of that.