MS PHYLLIS PHAM Class 5A2( 1997)
I BELIEVE …
Have faith in yourself and others will believe in you.
I had never liked school. As a student, I struggled with Mathematics and Chinese and was often getting on the nerves of my teachers for not completing my work and failing spelling tests. I hated how my teachers would‘ rat’ about my misbehaviour to my elder sister who would then report my misdeeds to my father. I hated school and I hated home...
By the stroke of luck, I passed my Primary School Leaving Examination and was streamed to the Normal Academic course. To me, that was an achievement although I was labelled as‘ hopeless’ since I was in the Normal stream. True to this label, I started to manifest my misbehaviour in school. I was easily distracted in class and thus did not do well academically. I was struggling and I attributed my behaviour to the teachers because I thought they did not like me. I did not like them too. I could not keep to a single Co-curricular Activity and I lacked drive and engagement.
I will never forget THE day that turned my life around. My father brought me to his office and we watched a movie about a man who was born without any limbs. He faced constant struggles and challenges yet he embraced life with hope and the self-belief that he could still contribute by motivating and inspiring others with his story. It suddenly dawned on me that I, a fully functional person, saw so little of myself and created nothing but trouble. I realised that if I did not change the way I think, I would never change the way others see me.
I started to change my attitude and began to work hard in class. Slowly I tasted little successes along the way. I discovered my passion and strengths. Soon I was setting higher goals and striving towards them. In no time, I realised that the teachers were not as nasty as I thought and I began to like school. I also became more confident. I was finally me. I have not looked back since.
Years later, as I sat waiting for my interview to be a teacher, I wondered if I had made the right choice. Did I have what it takes to be a good teacher? When I was asked the reason why I had applied to be a teacher, I answered,“ I want to help the Normal stream students do well.” I was not sure if that was a good answer, but I was appointed as an Education Officer.
Since then I have constantly asked myself these questions: Have I stayed true to my mission of wanting to help the under-achievers do well in school? Besides imparting knowledge, have I instilled in my students confidence and resiliency? Working with these students has taught me patience and I learned that there are multiple facets to what affect a child’ s motivation for learning. It is when we believe in them, they will start to believe in themselves.
Phyllis is now the Head-of-Department for Humanities in Clementi Town Secondary School. In 2012, she won the Outstanding Youth in Education Award( OYEA) that honours the achievements of young educators who have a passion and commitment to teaching, inspiring and nurturing their students.
Our Future: Be the Change You want Others to See! 041