MY SHORT JOURNEY

By Dea Zahra Farwati

How do I end up being a teacher?

Being a teacher has never been my choice. Since I was a kid I never had a thought that one day I would be a teacher. I didn’t even have courage to dream about it. Seeing me standing in front of the students had never crossed my mind before. However, here I am, an English teacher at a Senior High School.

This all started when I was about to graduate from Senior High School. My mom asked me to become a teacher just like my older sister. At first I didn’t agree with her because to tell you the truth I didn’t want to be a teacher. However, after I consider everything thoroughly for a couple of weeks, then I realized maybe it was the best idea to just agree with my mom. Becoming a teacher might be not as bad as I thought. Therefore, I made the final decision that I would be an English teacher.

Why do I choose to be an English teacher?

Since I entered the first grade of Elementary School to the second grade of Senior High School, I’d never liked English subject. I just had no interest in English. However, after I came to the third grade of my Senior High I became so passionate in English. I just became so obsessed with English. I loved the teacher, especially the way she taught us in the class room. She made me want to learn everything about English. And it triggered me to learn English more even outside of the class. Then, I tried to watch some western teenage series. From that on, I was like so into western series and movies. I loved watching them like every day. And that made me think that I have to be able to understand what they said in the movies without having to use any translation. Those reasons made me chose English as my major study in the faculty of English Education and Science.

How do I become myself now?

After I entered my freshmen year at the university, I realized that my English was nothing compared to my classmates. Most of them were so good in English. Therefore, I had to work extra hard to catch them up. I started to watch some English videos in order to improve my listening skill. I also continued my hobby which’s watching western movies and series. And while I watched them I used to practice my speaking ability by imitating them, like how they pronounced the words. I also used to take some notes, I wrote some words that I didn’t know on the notes, and then I stick them all over my bedroom wall. I also downloaded some application on my phone in order to support me to learn English. Moreover, I took some free online class to improve my grammar and my reading skills. So, I wouldn’t be left too far behind.

Semester by semester had passed by, I could finally improve my skill and be more confidence to speak up and expressed myself in and outside the class. I even participated in a drama competition and hence I became one of the representatives of the group to present The Use of Teaching media “Spin Wheel” to all of the Senior High School teachers in Bogor. It was such an honor for me and of course a challenge for me to improve myself. I even became a candidate for an exchange student program.

What I can say about it is if you try harder than everyone else even though you’re not as good them that’s totally fine. Just don’t ever give up and always try your best to the fullest and be consistent. Just an English proverb says “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Be patient and stay the course” by Fabienne Fredrickson.

Thank you and happy reading ;)