Appreciation Post : Teachers

I'll be starting to blog an appreciation post about the teachers who had guided, tutored and aided me throughout the whole process of being a Sixth Former in SMK Alam Megah. This is going to be a very long post, and I hope you won't get bored of this post. Enjoy reading

I started studying in Pre-University of SMK Alam Megah on mid-May 2014. Going through STPM was neither my first choice nor my last choice. However, after the whole journey, I felt I have made an achievement that I am proud of. Of course, this whole thing will not happen without meeting the people who brought me many lessons and guidance. 

I remembered the first day heading to Orientation Day, I was warmly welcomed by the Senior Assistant of Form 6, Pn. Siti Nourbayah binti Abu Bakar. She is a very kind and sincere teacher and always put on her best smile wherever she goes. She often encourages us to perform our best in everyday's problems no matter how hard it could be. She can be quite strict sometimes, when students did not obey what a pre-u student should do in school. Yet, she always welcomes new suggestions and accept it willingly by giving advices on what and how to do a certain thing. The thing I admire about Pn. Siti Nourbayah is that she always brings us happiness and warm when we felt gloomy or sad. She never comments anything bad in front of anyone. She truly wants more students to know what is Form 6 actually about and how does it change a person's life. The lesson I learnt from her is that you have to put on your best smile even though you are in the stage of jeopardy or sadness because that's what makes life worth treasure for. No matter how bad the situation is, you have to be optimistic and try one more time before saying give up.

"I hate people when they said Form 6 is their last choice rather than their first choice. Once you went through the tough process, you will find yourself even better and more disciplined. " Pn. Siti Nourbayah binti Abu Bakar 

Up next will be my class teacher plus my Chemistry teacher, Pn. Marini binti Abd Ghani. Thank you for being my class teacher during my Form 6's journey. She is the most fabulous chemistry teacher I ever met. She goes to classes with a laptop, an LCD projector and textbooks with colourful whiteboard marker pens. I would considered Pn. Marini to be the fashion pioneer of Form 6. If there is a award, I will definitely vote for her in the Best Fashion Award (Teachers Categories). Besides being highly-fashioned, Pn Marini always uses the easiest and simplest method to teach Chemistry. Oh, bear in mind that Chemistry is a super tough subject in Form 6! The concepts she used are according to the textbooks and she always gives us suggestion on how to write our essays. Plus, her colourful markers makes the notes on the board looks vibrant! To be honest, I am the one who always asked her questions and questions I encountered and she was blamed for taking other teachers' periods. Let me get this straight, I was the one who stopped her from stepping out the class because of my endless questions and yet she did not said a word about it. How could you find another teacher like her who is willing to use his/her precious time to explain the things you are not clear about? And one more thing, she is superb when it comes to managing money-related issues. My class had only 5 persons in the start and she suggested each gave RM10 as class fee and so we had RM50 as total. With that fifty ringgit, I would said she used it wisely and carefully. At the end of our Form 6, we were still able to get some of the money back with no problem at all. Until now, she still cares about her students and asks how are we doing so far. An important lesson that I learnt from her is that you shouldn't look at something so complex. Sometimes, you just have to view it in a simple way and that is what matters the most. Furthermore, she taught me to always be accurate in our findings because a single miscalculation or the wrong step might spoil the whole thing.

"One mark can turn the tables. So, be sure to do well and give your best shot every time! " Pn. Marini binti Abd Ghani

Another Chemistry teacher I would like to thank is Mr. Kan Cheong. Thank you for being my Chemistry teacher when Pn. Marini was not around in school. Mr. Kan did not say anything when he had to teach extra two students together with his seven original students. If it wasn't for him and Pn. Marini , I think I might be failing my Chemistry in all 3 terms. Mr. Kan teaches in a slow and easy-to-understand method by elaborating the topics he is teaching and often gives extra information like  how does a chemical equation is obtained etc. He is truly an expert in Chemistry. The extra information he gave can not be found in any Form 6's reference books and that gave me the lesson that we must explore beyond boundaries in order to discover more truth behind what was written. Knowing what was written in books is not enough to equip us to face the challenges in the world.

" Chemistry is not just knowing how to do equation and get any colour from mixing solutions together. You must always find more facts." Mr. Kan Cheong

Now is the time for the teachers who taught us Pengajian Am (PA), the subject that every Form 6 student must study. I had two teacher who taught me PA, Pn. Suriani binti Ibrahim for the 1st term and Pn. Roslinda binti Mohamad for the 2nd and 3rd Terms. Since this was the only subject in BM, I would say that I really did faced difficulties in this subject. The style of answering was totally "special" and it took me a long time to change my bombastic writing style. The good thing was both teachers have patience in teaching us, giving us notes and extra information so that we get the clear picture. Pn. Suriani was more to guiding us on how to write an essay as a sixth former should do. Her markings were strict but that helped me a lot during the first term. On the contrary, Pn. Roslinda preferred us to present our ideas out loud. Often, she will definitely want us to give opinions about a certain topic and would not be afraid to discuss it in the class. That is one bold and brave teacher if you ask me. These two teacher taught me one thing, always be curious! Yep, you are not reading it wrong. PA wasn't just a read-and-answer subject, so be sure to look for more information.

"Jangan sangka PA macam BM. Jika anda tidak memandang serius terhadap subjek ini, ucaplah selamat tinggal kepadanya." Pn. Suriani binti Ibrahim

"Yang! (Short for sayang) Cuba sedaya upaya untuk dapatkan keputusan yang cemerlang ya!"  Pn. Roslinda binti Mohamad 

My Form 6 journey wouldn't be complete without these Maths T teachers, Pn. Selvarani A/P T. Nadarajah and Pn. Goh Siew Kiew. Both teachers are the best Form 6 Maths T teachers I ever met. From the day I officially started my STPM journey, these teachers have put in so much works and efforts in teaching us day and night. Pn. Selvarani is the Maths T teacher of Biology Class while Pn Goh is the Maths T teacher of Physics Class. Since my class is small, we often joined classes with the Physics students to undergo topical tests after finishing each chapter. The discussion we had after obtaining the result made us knew what mistakes we have done. By presenting our answer on the board, Pn. Selvarani and Pn. Goh showed us how an actual candidate should answer in the test. Their dedications in educating us are just wordless and the only way to make them proud is to do our best in every exam. Mathematics T is a hardcore subject as well. The explanations given by the teachers are simple and understandable. Plus, as an STPM Science Stream candidate, we are required to complete 3 different Maths T assignments in each term respectively. I personally felt grateful for having these two teachers who are willing to spent time telling us on how to complete this tedious project works. Our Maths T project would be just a piece of junk if it wasn't for them who taught us on how to do the assignments. When we had free periods, either one of the teachers will use the period to teach Maths. We even had 6 periods of Maths for a day and that was the longest record. It cannot be help as the syllabus for Maths T is too compact. We even had a day for Maths T test and explanations during Sports Day. I remembered it vividly as the crowd was cheering so loud and we were not there to watch it. However, I see it as a sacrifice for us and the teachers in order to do well in the actual exam. Became one of their students is a privilege and honour. I am truly lucky enough to have two Maths teachers who did not gave up hope on anyone of us. Even though they are sometimes filled with other jobs given by superiors, they are willing to put the job aside and solve the problems we faced in Maths. If you ask me will I meet any other teachers that are willing to inspire us, I will say that for now, Pn. Selvarani and Pn. Goh are the teachers who gave us loads of inspiration and guidance throughout my Form 6 life and I bet my comrades will think that as well.

"Class, Maths T is not an easy subject and yet it is not a difficult subject if you are willing to put in a lot of hard work. You will not be able to taste success if you are lack of efforts and enthusiasm." Pn. Selvarani A/P T. Nadarajah

"There will be no fruits to harvest if you just plant the tree there and do not nurture it. Just like Maths, you can't just say you understand it. You must do a lot of exercises and practices in order to master it." Pn. Goh Siew Kiew

My selective subject was Biology and it could not be better without Pn. Maziah binti Muhamad Zain being my Biology teacher. How should I write this? I chose Biology because I am more interested in physiological processes rather than facing complex formulas and calculations in Physics. I am totally an idiot when it comes to reflection-related topic. I faced that when I had my SPM and I still dislike it. Throughout the whole journey, I was the only male student in Biology class and that made me wonder whether I made the right choice or not. But that negative thought did not affect me too long because I had a Biology teacher who is so passionate in teaching Biology. Although I did snoozed in her periods sometimes but she did not got mad about it. She knew that Biology needs a lot of mental strength to imagine what is really happening. One thing I must said that she did not gave up on the both of us (me and another classmate) until the end of our journey. She encouraged us to view videos on YouTube so that we would understand a topic much better. And I did! That method helped me a lot especially in Term 3. DNA replication, Biotechnology, Protein Synthesis etc. I still keep these videos in my phone, reminding me about those moment learning new things. The troubles we faced are just indescribable and I know my classmate and I will definitely understand. I did not regret choosing Biology as my elective subject. Why? The answer is simple, I had an amazing Biology teacher! 

"Keep up the good work! Do what you are capable of and I will pray the best for all of you!" Pn. Maziah binti Muhamad Zain

Malaysia University English Test (MUET). Although it was not a STPM subject, but every pre-university student, including sixth former needs to undergo this test in order to enter the courses they wanted in universities as it is one of the entry requirements. Initially, I thought that it would be a dull and boring one but it turned out I judged too quickly. My MUET teacher was Pn. Ng Swee Choo and she is totally one of a kind. I was impressed by not only her long teaching experience but also her unique teaching style. She also taught us new vocabularies and terms that we seldom use and it was actually fun and entertaining! She has a lot of knowledge and often shares her stories that we all liked to hear about it. She can be strict when it comes to grammatical errors and I always got myself a lot of red lines in my essays. xD Besides being strict, she also has a lot of ideas in her mind and she could speak it out as fast as lightning and it surprised me. I did learned a lot of things from Pn. Ng especially when it comes to speaking techniques, writing techniques and the method of generating loads of ideas in a short time. It was one of the experience that I will not forget unless I got Alzheimer's disease.

"English is a mad man's language." Pn. Ng Swee Choo

I would like to express my gratitude to another MUET teacher, Pn. Woo Sow Ying, for constantly asking how am I doing and sending motivational messages via WhatsApp. Although I was not taught by Pn. Woo, yet I always feel warm when I am having a small chit-chat with her directly or through social apps. She also bought us KitKat Rubies last year as we all scored well in MUET! Don't you feel appreciated when a teacher buys you something when you did a good job, even though you think it is not a big deal? Well, I do appreciate it!

"Life is not cruel. The challenges you are facing now make you more hard working so that you are able to strategize your future." Pn. Woo Sow Ying 

When I first started Form 6, there was one teacher who encouraged me to become a prefect and for that,  I would like to thank Pn. Teen Choo Shien. Initially, I just wanted to become an ordinary student but Pn. Teen gave me a chance and at last, I joined the Prefect Group of Form 6. Together with my partner, we did learned quite lot of things from her. Pn. Teen is a perfectionist and from that, I trained myself to do my job carefully. She also taught us on how to handle a assembly by giving us different roles to do, how to organize an event and documentation procedures.

"Do your part! Do not procrastinate!" Pn. Teen Choo Shien

Being a leader would not bring an impact to a club without the help of the advisers. And for this, I would like to thank Pn. Noraishah binti Nongshah as one of the advisers alongside with Pn. Woo and Pn. Teen. Thank you all so much for guiding me along this process and I hoped I did not caused any trouble to any one of the teachers. Pn. Noraishah is a very supportive teacher and always gives her inspiring comments about certain stuffs. She cares about the club and would always ask me what are the activities prepared for the members. Our trip to the Palace of Justice will not be made if it wasn't for her who gave us full support.

"Do you have any ideas on what to do? I would like to know what you have planned for the members." Pn. Noraishah binti Nongshah 

Thank you Pn. Rosliza binti Muda for bringing us scrumptious food when The Pre-University of SMK Alam Megah were having events.

Thank you En. Saipol Bahari bin Aziz for being the Senior Assistant of Co Curricular. Thank you for typing out our co curricular certificates and thank you for providing the co curricular activities.

Thank you Pn. Mazlinda binti Mohd Yusoff for always reminding us to clean our classroom and provided us the keys to the loo.

Thank you Pn. Rusmuna binti Musa for constantly suggesting me to become a doctor, but I don't think I will be capable of becoming one. Sorry to say that.

Thank you Pn. Norhayati binti Mohd Sabari, Pn. Wan Kamariah binti Wan Endut, Pn. Norepah binti Kasran for always smiling at this childish-looking student.

Finally, this post has comes to an end and it took me 2 months to finish this because there are just so many things I want to type it out. I'm not the person that like to say something out loud but I would like to say thank you to all the teachers who appeared in my Form 6 life. It was a journey worth to be treasured.

Fin