Ups and downs of pursuing the career of 'growing people'

CHOOSING THE PROFESSION OF "EDUCATING PEOPLE", A TEACHER IN BINH DINH HAS SLOWED DOWN MANY TIMES AND CONSIDERED QUITTING THE JOB BECAUSE OF WORRIES ABOUT THE ECONOMIC BURDEN. education

Having been a teacher for 32 years, Ms. Vo Thi Kim Xuyen (born in 1968, residing in Binh Dinh ward, An Nhon town), a teacher at Binh Dinh Primary School No. 1, still remembers clearly the first days when she pursued the career of "cultivating people". Recalling the first years of her relationship with the teaching profession, Ms. Xuyen could not help but be emotional because there were times when she felt discouraged and even thought of quitting the profession because of the worry of "making ends meet". To pursue the profession, Ms. Xuyen and her husband had to do many other jobs to earn more money to support the family. "I still remember very clearly, in 1991, the first month's salary I received was only 272,000 VND, compared to other jobs, this was a job with a very low salary, not enough for family expenses. Friends and relatives also advised me many times to quit the profession and find another job with a more stable income," Ms. Xuyen said with tears in her eyes.

According to Ms. Xuyen, in the first years of teaching, material conditions were like an invisible string that always hindered her will to stay in school and in class. Because decades ago, when the socio-economy was not yet developed, in order to continue standing on the podium, Ms. Xuyen had to trade many things, from time, effort, and even material things. And so, day by day, her love for the profession also covered the difficulties and troubles of life when witnessing each generation of her students gradually become good people. "The students' learning results are the belief and motivation for me to try every day. The joy of a teacher like me is that even after 5 or 10 years, my old students who have grown up still remember me. Those who are close come to visit, those who are far away call to tell me about the successes they have achieved, many times they see me as no different from a mother, so I am very happy," Ms. Xuyen said happily.

Born into a family with a tradition of teachers, Ms. Xuyen has been deeply imbued with the image of her father, who was also her first teacher, since childhood. For Ms. Xuyen, her father is like an ideal role model who inspired her to pursue a teaching career.

“Up to now, I feel lucky to have been born and raised in the cradle of the teaching profession. My husband is also a teacher, whenever I am tired or under pressure, he encourages me, this is also the only support that helps me overcome difficulties to live fully with the profession,” Ms. Xuyen confided. Flipping through each page of his wife's handwritten lesson plan that was compiled more than 20 years ago, Mr. Nguy Dinh My confided that because he is also a teacher, he fully understands the difficulties and hardships in the profession that Ms. Xuyen has to go through.

"The time when my wife and I had a baby was also the most difficult time for our family. Every time I came home from teaching and heard my wife wanted to quit her job because of work pressure, I felt so sorry, so I shouldered most of the housework. In addition, I also did some other jobs to earn more money to support the family, so that my wife could have time to focus on her work," Mr. My recounted. In more than 30 years pursuing a career in education , in 2015, Ms. Xuyen received a certificate of merit from the Prime Minister for her achievements in work from the 2010-2011 school year to the 2014-2015 school year, contributing to the cause of building socialism and defending the fatherland. In 2017, she was also awarded the title of Meritorious Teacher by the President for her contributions to the education and training of the nation.

Having worked at Tuy Phuoc High School No. 2 for 22 years, Ms. Vo Le Hai Phuong (born in 1979, residing in Phuoc Hoa commune, Tuy Phuoc district) still cannot forget the time when her boat sank on the way to class in the middle of the flood season 18 years ago. That "accident" left her in a state of shock for a long time. Because of that, the school in the "flood center" area has become special in her teaching career. "The school where I work is located in a low-lying area, every time the flood season comes, the school grounds and roads are flooded. Every time this season comes, I feel nervous, because during the rainy months, the water here is very high, to teach, I have to go by boat, sometimes going to the whirlpools that make the boat sway, very dangerous. In 2005, once on the way to class, the boat sank, my clothes and school bag were all wet, I still feel scared when I think about it," Ms. Phuong said.

According to Ms. Phuong, her relationship with the teaching profession is like a predestined relationship, so no matter how difficult or challenging it is, she still devotes all her efforts to pursuing the profession. And most especially, the love for her students is also the motivation to dispel the fatigue and pressure of work on the path of teaching. “My mother is also a teacher, and since I was a child, the image of my teacher has been deeply engraved in my memory, and from then on, the teaching profession has become special to me. Choosing the teaching profession is like taking on a career, because I know that this profession has a low salary, and if I choose to follow this profession, I have to accept it. For me, the happiest thing for a teacher is to be remembered by my former students. Sometimes, a few text messages or short phone calls from them to ask how I am doing help me dispel the fatigue and pressure of decades of teaching,” Ms. Phuong shared.

For over 20 years of teaching, Ms. Phuong has shed tears many times because of her students, partly because she was angry at the naughty students, and partly because she was sad that she had to teach them to disobey. However, after those tears of helplessness, many of Ms. Phuong's problem students gradually became more aware and improved. “Once, a special student in my homeroom class had bad and insulting words towards the subject teachers, which made me very angry. Because this meant that he had personally closed the door to his graduation if the matter had gone further. Because in the final years of high school, conduct is a very important factor to be assessed as having completed high school graduation. At that time, he did not listen, I was helpless and cried in front of him, because I did not understand why my student had such rebellious behavior. Seeing that, this male student also apologized to me, and proactively went to meet the subject teachers to admit his mistake. From that time on, his perception also changed, for the better,” Ms. Phuong said.

Ms. Phuong continued, during all that time teaching, she could not avoid moments of discouragement due to work pressure, and students were the support that helped her overcome all difficulties. "Every year that passes, what I get from this job is seeing my students succeed and grow up, that is the happiest thing for a teacher like me", Ms. Phuong said.