December 20, 2009

• Fear Factor

  I had my weekly meeting with my principal this past Wednesday. We usually talk about how I’m doing, student updates, and other important topics that involve my department. This time, I also asked him if I could take a day off next month because Roger and I are planning to visit Denver, CO during Martin Luther King Jr, weekend. We’re scouting the place out since it may be the destination for our future move.  This led to a conversation about me leaving next year.  He told me that ideally, I would stay on through the summer and a little bit of the fall (September and maybe October).  As much as I’d like to move during the summer, I always knew I would stay on until the school and I felt confident that the transition of my job goes smoothly.  So, it doesn’t surprise me that he would bring this up. I immediately told him that I would support MATCH and would gladly stay. 

  Later on, the conversation got me thinking. When do I tell the students that I’m leaving? It would be different if it was the end of the year, and everyone was saying good bye because of the summer.  However, I’m going to leave at the beginning of the next school year.  I always thought I would tell them in June, but now that I’m definitely staying on until the fall changes everything. I was driving to the mall today when I started thinking about my students. Who knew when I took this job back in 2006 that I would grow to love the school and the students this much? MATCH is an incredibly special place to me and leaving is going to be harder than I imagined.

  Tomorrow, if this snow doesn’t trap me in, I’m having lunch with one of my students.  She’s a repeating sophomore and almost didn’t come back this year because of that. Last year, at the end of the school year, she assertively told us that she wasn’t happy and that she wasn’t coming back. Her mother kept telling her that MATCH was the best school for her, but my student, who can be extremely stubborn, didn’t give us any hint on whether or not she was coming back to the school in the fall. At the end of the meeting, I pulled her aside so that we could speak privately. You see, this student and I had grown close to each other during that year.  She invited me to her AKA debutante ball, and my mom taught her how to cook a few Chinese dishes. Students like her make me love what I do. It’s amazing how as a teacher, you feel as if some of your students are your own kids.  I actually ended up imploring her to stay and told her how worried I would be if she wasn’t at MATCH. I told her how confident I was that people would care for her and that she would receive the best education at MATCH, but if she left, who knows which school she would end up in.  I acknowledged that MATCH is hard, but because she didn’t pass, she’s not ready to be the most successful person she could be.  By the end of that conversation, we were both in tears.  It’s moments like these that I will remember forever.

  I took this student to dim sum for the first time in September.  It was hilarious watching her eat tripe, chicken feet, and fried squid. She loved it all but said to me, “Miss, this is like Fear Factor!” Tomorrow, I’m planning on taking her for Fear Factor experience #2 – SUSHI!

  • 12:58 am
  • 1 Comment