It's been almost 2 years and a half since I completed my journey with Teach For Malaysia and have embarked on another journey with CIMB as a Management Associate under their The Complete Banker (TCB)-Fusion program (and then moved on to Grab, because this post is super late - it was supposed to be posted last year or last last year when I was still with CIMB).
I still get questions here and there if I am still a teacher and some people still thinks that I am still a teacher. I suppose the imprint of me telling people that I worked as a teacher is strong.
"How's life after the Fellowship?"
"Do you miss it? Do you miss teaching?"
These 2 are the most common questions I receive whenever I tell someone that I'm no longer a teacher or just usual questions from other Fellows as well.
I would mostly joke around and say "Well, I cry less." and that would make the other party (and myself) laugh, usually the ones who would laugh harder with me would be the Fellows (from any batch) who has been on a similar journey as me in the Fellowship.
That being said, to answer the honest truth - there are some aspects which I do miss aka planning activities for my students, communicating with them and having a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction when you see you work impact another person's life in a positive manner. I also miss having walk into the Bilik Guru and seeing that there's already food all over the table counter because God knows why the teachers love to eat lmao, but hey, free food for me! Oh and when students run up to you asking how you are and complimenting you out of no where (lmao, take it with a pinch of salt tbh).
Here's a pic of my desk on the first day of work. The red puncher was from STAJ (which I returned after 2 years HAHAHA), my white bottle that went missing in IPG, iced americano I bought at 6AM in the morning from Centrepoint's Mekdi and the rest are still with me!
I most certainly do NOT miss the indirect communication (OFTEN HAPPENS) done in school, with poor leadership who only cares nothing and nothing but name + fame. I believe that when it comes to any environment, leaders should always put their people first. I do NOT miss the long working hours (It's a misconception that teachers only work til 1pm or half day. HA! WHAT A JOKE. If you take into account staying back after school to handle extra curricular activities, nonsensical documentation & paper work which goes nowhere after that, classroom & lesson planning, stakeholder management etc), you pretty much finish work at around in the whee mornings.
My interest in TFM formed when I saw some of my high school seniors posting their stories on instagram (yes, a few of them were Fellows) and even two of my high school mates from the same batch (2011) became Fellows themselves - Grace (2017), Sophie (2018) and Me! (2019). I never expected any of my school friends to have joined TFM, much less seeing one of my GenCorporate Bros aka SY joining TFM as a Fellow!!
While my interest was there, I never thought of applying since I was more focused on getting my life together and figuring out what I wanted to do (still am tbh but with a better direction I suppose?) but with God's directions, I ended up in TFM anyway.
The road was rough from the beginning, from training all the way til it ended. There were times when I just wanted to quit because I had another job offer, somehow I stayed - because honestly, I was scared to be seen as a failure for leaving half way and to be judged that I couldn't make it as a teacher, but I made it, I really did. I completed two years.
However, being part of this growing community has also allowed me to branch out and with the experience faced as an individual - it made me empathize more with the people within it. I suppose the in wanting to build a better place for the underprivileged is also something that I miss, since it's not everyday you find someone or a community which has the same vision or thoughts which are aligned with yours.
It's been 3 years since 2020 ended, it's 2023 now and I finally got the groove to start posting something again on my blog. There were so many ups and downs, some I documented on my twitter, some on my finsta, insta whatever platform that I was able to express myself. I still reminisce on my life as a teacher, it really is true that memories do stay with you. I do miss my students who have mostly graduated with only 1 - 2 now in school who remembers me. I don't talk to them as often anymore, but god do I miss teaching them back then. I wish I had more time with them, but the time felt right.
I am also happy that some of them and the teachers in school (aka Kak Sab and Kak Ru) still keep in touch with me and asking how I am from time to time. I was supposed to go back but couldn't find the right time to go back. This blog seems to be mostly about my time as a teacher and honestly speaking, I don't think it will ever end, because there's too many stories to be told and that's only a 2 year journey. Imagine if I was still a teacher (probably would be complaining about the low pay and excessive work damn), the stories would be pouring and never ending.
Anyhoo, here's an update for 2023. Let's see if I will update about my past journey with CIMB and currently my journey with Grab or what I have been doing on the side lines with Nasi Campur Tales (something that has been keeping me busy for a year and a half now hehe) or how I am a part of The Flute Choir with CGFA Flute (yes I play the flute!!).
See you soon!
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