I Am Not Lazy, I Just Don’t Know

7979 Guide & Care · Written by Sow Yee

White flag raised and swaying in the air. With the extension of the movement control order(MCO), Saria (pseudonym) parents’ savings are like the sparsely populated street, pitifully small. When her enthusiastic class teacher found out, she informed the Companionship Class’s teacher at the 7979 Holistic Care Station of Jelebu Full Gospel Evangelism Center. The Companionship Class’s teacher quickly discovered that this was the family that she had been in contact with when she taught at the kindergarten. With the intervention of the church, the life of Saria’s family has been filled with warmth and their financial problems were alleviated. During the visit, seeing that the child’s enthusiasm for learning was decreasing, the teacher looked at Saria worriedly, recalling some of her memories of teachings in pre-school, without hesitation, the teacher let her joined the Companionship Class. Saria returned to the both familiar and unfamiliar atmosphere of studying together in a confined place.

Aihh! Sharia sighed in her heart, as she held the homework in her hand intending to take out, but after a quick glance at the teacher, she quietly stuffed it back into her schoolbag. The reunion after a long absence did not bring joy, instead Saria chose to lie to the teacher. “Teacher, there is only one homework today” However, there is no wall that is impermeable to the wind, one day, the teacher of the Companionship Class received a complaint phone call from her parents, the school teacher informed the parents that Saria did not complete her homework. The teacher was shocked and checked her schoolbag and found that there was many unfinished homework, some had as many as 10 blank pages to be filled in. It turned out that due to the effect of homeschooling during the MCO, Saria couldn’t do her homework on her own, and the number of pages has also increased so fast that she dared not take another look at it.

After that incident, the teacher would check carefully Saria’s schoolbag to see if there is any school work to be done, and she would slowly guide her to finish it one by one. With the guidance of the teacher, Saria successfully finished all the missed homework. She had a 180-degree transformation from the previous “teacher I don’t understand” and “teacher I don’t know” to a student who take initiative to ask questions whenever she encounters academic difficulties. She was determined to draw a clear line with the image of “bad student who always leave blank space”.  Saria’s hard work gained her class teacher affirmation, the teacher praised her at the beginning of the new school year, and entrusted her with the responsibility of the class monitor.

Time flies, it’s almost the Teachers’ Day.
Saria looked around the house, rummaged through the “gifts” that she accumulated, and searched for the best to give to the teacher. After searching for a while, she turned her head and looked at her brother and sister with questioning eyes. They all shook their heads and waved their hands. Looking at her empty pockets, Saria sat down on the messy bed in frustration. After about half a century, “Ah, yes! Don’t I have it, I can give that to the teacher!” Thinking of this, she jumped up from the bed and took out the long-cherished pen in her schoolbag.

“Teacher, I wish you a happy Teacher’s Day”
The pen she found yesterday, now wrapped in slightly yellowed old worn newspaper, had turned into an elegant gift. Seeing the unexpected gift, the teacher was stunned for a few seconds, and suddenly her eyes turned red. Stroking her messy hair, the teacher accepted the gift with a big smile on her face. Saria looked at the teacher and smiled like a sunshine back at the teacher. On that day, the afterglow of the setting sun slowly shone on the figures of the two of them. The teacher silently prayed that Saria would continue to be obedient and thoughtful, strive forward and humble herself in her future learning journey.