To My English Teacher, Thank you!
This past Teachers Day I wanted to write an appreciation post but couldn’t come up with anything creative. So I moved on to drafting another blog post.
While scrolling on Linkedin, I read on someone’s post that they have been writing since they were 10!
It took me back to 8th grade when one teacher changed my relationship with English and possibly everything else that followed.
We had moved from the Tarn Taran, a very small town in Punjab, to the big city (to us at the time) of Amritsar.
I moved from studying in St. Francis Convent School to Spring Dale Senior School. Both were the best schools in their respective city.
St. Francis, even though it was an English medium school, was still in Tarn Taran. The only time we spoke in English was when we were in class. Amongst the kids, we talked in Punjabi.
Spring Dale was, and is, the most sort after school in the city. Not to say everyone who went there was rich, but a lot of them were. And most kids were fluent in English.
There I came with my heavily accented English and small-town mannerisms. I felt very insecure.
I faired better in math, and was okay in all other subjects but my insecurity was affecting them all. (I tried my best to not let it show)
The problem was I didn’t know how to think in English, so if I was talking to a teacher, it was a struggle.
Our class teacher, Meenakshi Ma’am, who was also our English teacher, was always very kind to me.
I don’t remember how I scored. But I do remember going to her after class one day and asking for her help to improve my English.
She didn’t ask me to come to her for any personal tutoring. She just gave me one topic to write an essay on. She reviewed it and I had actually done okay.
She knew that I just needed some confidence.
I just felt too scared and insecure in that new high society environment. I was actually not that bad.
From 9th grade on, everything changed! I moved from being an average student to being 2nd in class the very next year.
I was never the best student in English, and Math remained my strongest suit but I was also no longer insecure.
I know I am still not as good as a writer should be. I am still a bit surprised when people compliment what I write.
But if I have the confidence to write today, it is because of Meenakshi Ma’am, my English teacher in 8th grade.
So, thank you, Ma’am.
I am not sure where she is or if she’ll read this.
But she is proof that a good teacher and a small act of kindness can change the course of your life.
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