This essay is my submission for a competition. Though I don't know the result, I'm glad I've finished it ^^
-o__o-
Perhaps it’s unarguable that everyone, no matter poor or rich, successful or failed, has at least a teacher. He is the person leading us to the life outside our homes, opening up new horizons for us and showing us how to become a man. Teachers are sometimes viewed as “seed-planters” since the human resource of the society depends on them. I once read an interesting poem describing the teaching career:
“To be a teacher means to be a ferryman
helping others cross large rivers
Is it because the rivers are so big
Is it because the rivers are so big
that rarely do people remember him?”
For most part of his career, a teacher may witness generations after generations grow up, enjoying the happiness of seeing his “seeds” successful or feeling deeply disappointed when one of the “seeds” becomes spoiled. All those conditions and emotions, no one knows when, have become an essential part of a teacher’s life.
My dear teacher, who taught me English from the very beginning of my secondary life, is, perhaps, an embodiment of teaching career.
“Master”, the title I often call him with great respect, is a man of his fifties. His grey hair and the sunburned skin make him look older than he really is. His forehead is full of wrinkles which, perhaps, are the results of his hot temper. And cracks dominate his hands and feet. In fact, it’s easy for a stranger to come to the wrong conclusion that he must be over sixty. His dislike of colorful things explains his habit of wearing only white shirts and black trousers. A lot of people call my master ‘weird’ but for me, he just looks like a man of another previous age.
One thing I have to admit is that my master is quite strict, in which he will get angry if anyone of us comes to class without preparing the lessons well. Many don’t like his way of teaching since they argue that he is only a teacher of good students who always learn and complete all the assignments he gives out but I, as one of his students who were punished by him several times, know that he does so because he want us to have a high level of self-actualization. For most of the time I studied English with him, I saw his efforts in helping us to establish an appropriate study method. Master made us work hard so that we could have a solid and strong foundation for future development in our careers. Surely my master is not a good pretender because although he tried to behave in a strict and serious way, we could see his happiness in his eyes when each of us achieved a higher level.
A memory that I will never forget about master happened a couple of years ago when I was at high-school. In my old school, I was one of the top students in English, so the tests were often quite easy for me, which sometimes caused my ignorance of English. One day, after long hours of playing football, I was so tired that I didn’t care to revise his lesson. As a result, the next day I did one of the worst things in my life, cheating in the test. When master found out, he was extremely angry. Through his eyes, I could feel his deep disappointment. Tears filled my eyes and my lips just had enough strength to let a few words out: “I’m sorry, sir”. My master said nothing but left the room quietly. That afternoon I ate nothing, lying thinking about my mistake. Suddenly the phone rang and from the other end came his voice: “Son, are you alright?” I was so surprised that I could hardly say anything. Master called because he was afraid that something bad would happen to me. He told me that mistakes were a fact of life and that it was the way I respond to errors that counted. That day, though I made my master disappointed, he gave me the most precious lesson I had ever had.
One characteristic of his that I admire most is his ability to work restlessly. Master spends most of his time finding improvements and solutions to his teaching method. His effort reminds me of one saying of Confucius’s: “… study without boredom and teach without rest …” Though he usually tries to hide his exhaustion, we all see his sweat wash his clothes. For me, it is his spirit of working that gives me motivation to work tirelessly so as to achieve new heights. However, because of such a busy work schedule, master’s health is seriously affected. He once told us that sometimes he failed to concentrate on marking tests or that he had several headaches. The latest traffic accident happening to him put a stop to his teaching career at school. Tried hard as he did, master was unable to continue. When I heard the news, I felt a sense of sadness in his voice. Perhaps he was so accustomed to school-life that it was hard for him to leave it. But my master is not a person who would easily sit still in a place, doing nothing, he is now in charge of some evening classes. Although I really admire his love for work, I sincerely hope master can have more time to rest since the last time I visited him, sweat still washed his shirt.
My dear teacher, who taught me English from the very beginning of my secondary life, is, perhaps, an embodiment of teaching career.
“Master”, the title I often call him with great respect, is a man of his fifties. His grey hair and the sunburned skin make him look older than he really is. His forehead is full of wrinkles which, perhaps, are the results of his hot temper. And cracks dominate his hands and feet. In fact, it’s easy for a stranger to come to the wrong conclusion that he must be over sixty. His dislike of colorful things explains his habit of wearing only white shirts and black trousers. A lot of people call my master ‘weird’ but for me, he just looks like a man of another previous age.
One thing I have to admit is that my master is quite strict, in which he will get angry if anyone of us comes to class without preparing the lessons well. Many don’t like his way of teaching since they argue that he is only a teacher of good students who always learn and complete all the assignments he gives out but I, as one of his students who were punished by him several times, know that he does so because he want us to have a high level of self-actualization. For most of the time I studied English with him, I saw his efforts in helping us to establish an appropriate study method. Master made us work hard so that we could have a solid and strong foundation for future development in our careers. Surely my master is not a good pretender because although he tried to behave in a strict and serious way, we could see his happiness in his eyes when each of us achieved a higher level.
A memory that I will never forget about master happened a couple of years ago when I was at high-school. In my old school, I was one of the top students in English, so the tests were often quite easy for me, which sometimes caused my ignorance of English. One day, after long hours of playing football, I was so tired that I didn’t care to revise his lesson. As a result, the next day I did one of the worst things in my life, cheating in the test. When master found out, he was extremely angry. Through his eyes, I could feel his deep disappointment. Tears filled my eyes and my lips just had enough strength to let a few words out: “I’m sorry, sir”. My master said nothing but left the room quietly. That afternoon I ate nothing, lying thinking about my mistake. Suddenly the phone rang and from the other end came his voice: “Son, are you alright?” I was so surprised that I could hardly say anything. Master called because he was afraid that something bad would happen to me. He told me that mistakes were a fact of life and that it was the way I respond to errors that counted. That day, though I made my master disappointed, he gave me the most precious lesson I had ever had.
One characteristic of his that I admire most is his ability to work restlessly. Master spends most of his time finding improvements and solutions to his teaching method. His effort reminds me of one saying of Confucius’s: “… study without boredom and teach without rest …” Though he usually tries to hide his exhaustion, we all see his sweat wash his clothes. For me, it is his spirit of working that gives me motivation to work tirelessly so as to achieve new heights. However, because of such a busy work schedule, master’s health is seriously affected. He once told us that sometimes he failed to concentrate on marking tests or that he had several headaches. The latest traffic accident happening to him put a stop to his teaching career at school. Tried hard as he did, master was unable to continue. When I heard the news, I felt a sense of sadness in his voice. Perhaps he was so accustomed to school-life that it was hard for him to leave it. But my master is not a person who would easily sit still in a place, doing nothing, he is now in charge of some evening classes. Although I really admire his love for work, I sincerely hope master can have more time to rest since the last time I visited him, sweat still washed his shirt.
Now we don’t study with master any more, but his lessons still guide us in our ways of life. For each of us, he is not only a teacher but also a father who always cares for our life. What he teaches us is more than English, it’s about how we should live and work to the fullest. His saying still echoes in my ears every day: “As a man, you have a Heart, Love and Industry will give you Strength and Intelligence”. Every year, we gather together in his house one time, recalling the old memories; and master always remembers everything. But the chance for us to meet him seems rarer because of the busy life of each of us. Each year our master is getting older and weaker; our only wish now is that master is healthier and can live with us much and much longer so that we can give him the present he always longs for, our success.
