- An Unexpected Hero -
Edu Champ Academics is proud to present our way of giving back to the teachers who have given their all in education. For our first Teacher Feature, we decided to interview Samhan! An honest and down-to-earth Maths teacher, he shared with us why he started giving tuition and why he decided to continue. As for the rest, we’ll let the interview itself do the talking!
ECA : Tell us about your first experience with tuition schools.
SAMHAN : I was in form 2. That was in… 2006? I was getting tuition for (Laughs) ALL subjects. My parents put me there. I was like “Ahh… Tuition kah? Should I…?” But then, I saw my results and I was like, I need it. (Laughs) My grades were really low. My parents are both teachers and they expected me to get high marks. That’s why they put me in tuition. I remember at that time, I was the only one in Form 2. I was taking PMB the next year. It was a good one-on-one tuition.
ECA : A student fall in love with the subject because of the teacher. Do you agree with the statement?
SAMHAN : Yes, I have one student who does not like Maths. A few months after I took over the class, he confessed to me that he still doesn’t like Maths. But because he loves the way I teach, he got a credit for his test.
ECA : Is that your inspiration to be a tuition teacher?
SAMHAN : No. Six years ago, I was an ITB student and was dependent on the allowance. I didn’t finish my HND so my dad put me in IGS for a degree. It was self-funded, so I had to figure out how to earn money without interfering with my studies. I could only think of having a job at night, and one of the jobs available was tuition. In the beginning, I didn’t want to be a tuition teacher. But in my first year, my students improved. My confidence grew and it gave me a great sense of satisfaction. I was inspired to teach. Till this day, I still enjoy teaching.
ECA : Now that you’re studying Masters in Teaching, what’s your dream job?
SAMHAN : I want to be a teacher. I love the transfer of knowledge. I love to see my students improve. I have some students who are struggling; I just want to help them pass. If they score a credit or distinction, that’s even better. In the last test for one of my students, I thought he would get a D - but he got a C instead. It’s an improvement and that, means a lot to me.
Wow! The passion Samhan had for teaching and being a teacher really shone through in his interview. We were really happy that we got to see a little bit of his motivations. To end this feature, we have a little video about what his students have to say about him, so have a look! :)