From teacher to muallimah.

Being a teacher is not easy.

Once upon a time, abah asked me what do I want to be when I grow up and I answered ustazah. Sis. What? 😂 Okay hear me out. My family is the basic family where are exposure to Islam is limited to school exposure and kelas mengaji and such. Basic. So I tried my very best to remember why I answered ustazah when abah asked me that question.

Turns out, my previous ustazah was super nice. I was a bit slow in primary school, I couldn't read or write until I was 9 ish. So the rest of the teachers was basically lions lah cause tak habis habis muka yang sama je kena marah. And my mom has been called to the principal office more than once because I didn't complete my work. Yeah I don't know

But that ustazah never raised her voice or even rotan me. Those where the days when budak sekolah bleh dirotan. Haha good times. So yes, I remember her for her kindness and I want to be like that. A kind and loving teacher.

So now I'm a teacher, officially. It is NOT easy. I teach primary kids, like 7 and 8 year old and they can be handful sometimes. I love them so much and trust me, most of my energy were invested for them. I learn so much from teaching them and making sure they are learning something, even the smallest thing everyday. It's exhausting but rewarding at the same time when they get all excited when I entered the class, like every single day, they would wait for my period. As soon as I step in the class, they cheered. Literally. Took me 5 minutes to make sure they settle down haha but worth it. Seriously seronok ajar tahun 1. I love them. Dah la comel ahhhh I cannot

I kinda understand why my ustazah was the only one being nice to me because I would be frustrated too if I had to deal with that much nakal in one class. But my ustazah punya tahap kesabaran is really something else. It's amazing how she managed to keep the class in check and make sure that everyone ikut dan faham apa yang dia ajar. Amazing.

Still, I'm really trying to adapt. Every class is different and they need different approaches that would suit them. If you wish to be a teacher and I really need to say this up front, it's not for everyone, you need to have the highest level of sabar. And a sprinkle of fun. They would love you and would be so thankful for you. I mean, teachers are their second parents after all. They spend half of their time in school. Might as well, get to know each other kan?

 btw, we called female teacher - muallimah, in our school.