Her Email..

Waalaikummussalam Ikin,

Thank you for your "long" email . At least you were more eloquent this time, a trait which I think is necessary for an educator. Didn't know that you are a teacher yourself. Welcome to the world of education. For me, it's one, if not the, richest world that I have been, and still are, a world that is immensely satisfying and rewarding.

But again it depends on how we approach our life. Remember I gave that quote "We should like what we do, and not do what we like"? I read somewhere that the best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. And Carol Buchner did say this of students. "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." I do believe, as teachers, or a better word, as educators, we should make our students remember us in a good light.

There are times when, as Aristotle said "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet". As for the emails, I'm not disappointed or sad at all. That student was being candid with me. Can't blame that student though. I think I have taken much of people's ever busy time. I'm sure the class are not used to receiving my kind of emails, or emails at all, from other lecturers .

I would like to share with you what Hiam Ginott said about being a teacher, or the "power" of a teacher, rather:


"I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a student's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a student humanized or de-humanized. "

Surprising, isn't it, how we teachers affect our students? It's really food for thought.


Prof. Afifah

Footnote : Prof Afifah is my corporate finance lecturer