Will you still remember me?

When it is time to say goodbye,

Are we still who we used to be?

The bells are no longer ringing,

The people are no longer the same,

I think I might end up bawling,

When we no longer see each other’s names.

If only I have a time machine,

I wish to go back to where we smile and laugh,

Where our favourite place is the canteen,

At least, that is what it is from our photograph. 

The school that we had decided to do our SBE was St. Joseph, Papar. On the first day of school, I was nervous because I had a lot of expectations knowing that the school is one of the top-tier schools in the district. Hence, I tried to be as careful as possible to avoid any issues from happening. 

The world is indeed full of surprises. I was so grateful knowing that the school’s headmaster along with some of the senior assistants were majoring in TESL back when they were still taking their degree. I managed to relate and get comfortable with them as we have something in common to talk about. The headmaster, Mr. Cyril was really helpful in bringing us around the school along with Mdm. Bibiana, the senior assistant of administration. It was only the first day and there was already so much help that was given to us. 

The next few days were quite the same. We had broken down the tasks that needed to be done in relation to the SBE for the whole week, hence, we were able to do our task consistently with the help of my friends as well. 

On the third day, one of the teachers accidentally sprained her ankles, causing her to not be able to walk properly because of her damaged muscle around her ankles. The headmaster reacted fast by giving her first aid at the canteen to avoid the situation from getting worse. Then, we were asked to monitor the students in the class where the teacher was supposed to enter as she would not be able to enter the class due to her injury. 

From that day onwards, we were constantly given a class to monitor and see how they learn at the same time to fully understand the daily dose of a teacher in the school. I learned a lot from the teachers and the students, and even got to know some of the students while I was visiting some of the class.  

I never thought that this SBE was going to be something that is meaningful and full of experiences and knowledge. I am able to see the improvements and changes of the system in most of the schools and thinking back, I still have a lot to learn in order to become a teacher that will soon become the leader, the guidance to the future students of Malaysia. 

 

“Thank you, teacher.” I thanked her after she put the pencil back on my table. She smiled and told us to continue drawing. 

After the class ended, we thanked Teacher Rose and she gave us the brightest smile that she would always give. She was always smiling to everyone no matter where she was. I would say the whole school loved her as well. Everytime she passed by anywhere , her rose scent would follow her and at that moment, we knew that she was nearby. 

My friends and I were eating the food that we brought from home during recess, and one of my friends, Camelia, stopped eating before she said, “Did you guys know that Teacher Rose is having her birthday soon?”. We were quite confused and I asked her, “Really? I thought she never wanted us to know her birthday.”. Ethan, who was sitting next to me, replied, “She might be the kindest teacher I’ve ever met but she is so mysterious.”. We were all nodding our heads when we smelled the rose scent coming from somewhere. Hurriedly, we rushed to the direction of the scent and found Teacher Rose outside the classroom. “Teacher, teacher, is it true that your birthday is coming soon?”, one of us asked. Teacher Rose was startled for a short moment and smiled at us, “Oops, seems like you guys found out my secret! Well, you’re right. My birthday is next Thursday, if that’s what you want to know”. We asked her if we could celebrate it together with her and she told us that it would be celebrated at school with other teachers as well. I was hyped and excited for her birthday.

As the days passed, we were counting the days until her birthday party. I was thinking of making her a birthday card. Teacher Rose would just smile and giggled watching how we were so excited waiting for her birthday. 

It was a few days before her birthday, I was walking from the toilet when I saw Teacher Rose was coughing with tissue on her hand, placed on her lips. My steps paused when I saw red spots coming from her lips being transferred to the white tissue. Oh maybe it was just tomato sauce. Or that was what I thought.

One day before the event, we were suddenly shocked by very unexpected news. Teacher Rose was admitted to the hospital and was diagnosed with what they said as a stomach ulser. The headmaster was telling us that she would be fine and allowed each class to send two representatives to meet her on her birthday. I was one of them.

On her birthday, we got into the headmaster’s car and drove us to the hospital where Teacher Rose was admitted. When we saw her, she was pale. Her lips were no longer red like it used to but despite all that, she was still smiling. “Hello guys!”, She greeted us with her body lying on the bed. I walked toward her and asked, “Teacher, are you alright?”. Her eyes were somehow shining and she nodded while taking the birthday cards that we made for her. “Thank you everyone for the gifts. I will not be able to be at school starting tomorrow because I am going for a holiday! A long one.”, she said. We were all pouting as we could not smell her rose scent anymore but she said it would be fine and even told us to complete our school work.

I hope that she will be happy during her trip. It was nice knowing and getting to be taught by such a great teacher.

3. Non-Fiction Prose: Collection of experiences