The Routine

It has always been a routine the past two years. I wake up, brush my teeth and do my daily business on the throne. Then I change, and have breakfast at the nearby cafe or kopitiam. Then I'd sometimes go to NTUC to get my weekly groceries. In less than a hour, I'd be back in my rented apartment in the central area. 

I turn on my trusted Lenovo notebook, and begin cracking my head on what to prepare for my students that range from Secondary 1 to 4. I need not worry about those kids from Primary 3 to 6 which I'm also teaching because the worksheets have been prepared by a team of teachers. I'm often lost, but I have to thank the Internet resources, as well as the books that I've invested to help me through each day. Staff at POPULAR bookstore must be smiling each time they see me at their premise. Work doesn't officially begin till 4:00 PM - wait, before you say "Hey, I wish I could go to work at that time", think again. Despite starting late, I unofficially begin at 8:30AM at home, and spend a good 2 hours preparing worksheets for my unappreciative students - or perhaps it's my worksheets that are too simple (or too hard) for them. By the time I get back from work, it's close to 11:00PM, feeling weary. So when others are ready to go to bed, or literally rolling in bed with their partner, I'm just getting ready to eat dinner - or should I say, supper.

I work 6 days a week; weekends are a full 8-hour job from 9:00AM, which means I get up about 6:00AM and get ready to catch the bus, MRT or LRT (sometimes all three) so that I'd be on time to have breakfast at my destination (it's a different location each day). There's a lot of talking involved in my line of work, and when a large class is filled with boisterous kids, then my voice would be raised. There would be silence but it's only temporary, for the whole cycle begins ten minutes later. Kids these days have short term memory, or they're just hyper-energetic, I guess.

My only day off is on Monday. Take note that it's a "DAY OFF", which means I don't have to be physically present in class, but being the perfectionist and scardy-cat me, I'd spent half my off day doing preparations for the next week. I know other colleagues would just ignore work and go lay at the white sandy beach, hang out with friends, or shop till they drop, but I'm somehow "different". I feel guilty if I don't do any work, for that's what I'm paid for. Often, I end up getting very uptight or frustrated when my preparations boil down to zero when students refuse to do the worksheets as they are just too exhausted after their regular school hours. I won't blame them, but then, they're paying me to learn something - they fail to see that. I'm not a master teacher or the best teacher ever, but I have helped a couple of students pass the O-Levels when they had failed just a year earlier before coming to me for help. I've had a parent begging me to continue helping her daughter at secondary level even though my schedule is filled to the brim. So, I'm not that bad, right?

When I share all my grouses above with my girlfriend or friends, they'd tell me things like "hang in there" or "you must know what is it that you want in life". I often compare myself with other friends of mine who are less qualified academically but more successful now. I sometimes wonder if the Master's in Computer Education degree which took me seven gruelling years to complete (part time) was all worth it. I was an assistant lecturer at a renowned Malaysian university, and later a lecturer at a business school in Singapore, but now I'm a measly English tutor here. I've told myself NOT to compare or feel bad because despite being "demoted", I'm actually in a better place, and a better position now. Honestly, I can't agree more with that. It's an experience that not many of my ex-colleagues would have.

So what now?

I don't have a freaking clue, except that I know I've started to drag my feet to work - and that's always bad news for me when that happens. Yet, I don't have a choice; I have to earn a living by helping my students as much as I can to the best of my ability, and not bother much about whether they're in class to study or just to waste their parents' hard-earned money. Those who want to study, will; those who don't and expect the class to be an entertainment club, they won't. I don't have time to sit with them to counsel them as I'm not doing face-to-face personal tutoring. 

What's the worse case scenario?

I hope that this will not happen - having to say goodbye and going back to where I came from, and start looking for job all over again. It would be excruciating painful to my emotions and to my wallet. MTMY (anonymous friend) once warned me that I wouldn't survive working here, but I've so far proven that person to be wrong. I wish to continue for as long as I can... if not in this organisation, in another - perhaps in a different profession where I could proudly tell others: "I'm very contented with my job". Until that day comes, life will be a routine.

It's 11:46AM now, and in 2 hours, I'd be at the bus stop... and another (to transit) to get to my place of work at Marine Parade Rd.

Teaching is Tough

The sky looks threatening, though not grey enough to warrant a great thunderstorm. It is my off day, as usual - the only day I don't go to work, yet I don't feel at ease.

I have been spending most of my free days preparing more work for my students. Well, don't blame me, for I have 20 classes to teach per week ranging from Primary 3 to Secondary 4 - the O Levels kids. That's a total of six different groups of students from ages 9 to 18. I have to teach 30+ hours per 6-day week. Oh yeah, I work on Sabbath Days too for a full eight hours from 9:30 till 5:00PM, inclusive of travel time. On weekdays, classes begin at 4:30PM, but wait, you'll then question me: "Then why are you complaining?" The fact is, unlike other professions, a teacher needs to do preparations - review what has been taught, and plan what to teach for the day in addition to preparing additional worksheets for the smarter kids. THIS is time-consuming. Unless you have been teaching for ages where you could then recycle materials, and unless you're the kind who just copy and paste lock, stock and barrel from the Internet, you will eventually end up working yourself out to the maximum - in the name of educating the students. I started with almost zero since joining last year. Would my agony then be reduced next year? Quite unlikely as I don't recycle too much - unless I'm darn lazy or ill.

You know, each time I have breakfast on weekends at the tuition centres, I am envious of residents lazing around on the bench, cycling with their children, taking a sip of their favourite local coffee while enjoying a good meal of roti canai or ban mian as they read their papers. Life seems to come to a standstill, yet they appear to enjoy every moment of their two off days with their loved ones. Those who are retired enjoy whatever that's left of their lives, collecting pensions and their CPF savings.

 

 

How long can I last? I have no clue. I'm just hanging in there while looking into my soul for something that interests me so that I don't have to keep job-hopping. Someone once said to me, "You won't make it" - well, she can say all she wants as she's having a great life now, but I intend to stay and prove that I can stay on.

 

A prayer helps too.