Results are Teachers' rewards of hard work

Teaching is one profession that is most rewarding but the least remunerated. It exhausts both mentally and physically of the being.

With all these bad points, I have never thought of being a teacher before. At least not on a long term. Plus, being dubious of my own ability and qualification to teach further restrain me from going into this line. It was only until I have seen many of my peers teaching part time, that I have decided to give it a go.

Teaching is one thing, teaching music is another.

The subject itself demands strong technical ability of the teacher before he or she is able to impart the skills to the students. So our ability to play are often challenged and we have to constantly improve ourselves.

Another headache is that, there are no clear defined lines to follow. Music is not as straight forward as Mathematics where you must learn certain concepts on certain age. (Eg. to count by thousands when 11 and learnt algebra by 12.) Yet there are certain expectations of the student depending on the grade she is in. Because of the ambiguity and lack of standard materials to follow, teachers have to source their own materials and slowly bring the students to higher level. So our job is to try to get our students as exposed to different music as possible. On a silver lining, we are granted more flexibility on the songs we can choose for our students.

With all that being said, it is a difficult job. Much more than an administrative clerk.

This year, I finally put my skills and teaching abilities to test by sending my students for exams.

I was worried, and nervous. Many times I had wanted to stop teaching but I always managed to convince myself otherwise.

What if my interpretation of the songs were wrong. What if I have been teaching them the wrong things. What if they fail? 

I couldn't sleep. This is my first time sending students for exams.

At last!

On the 16th day after the exam date, the results were released. It was late and I had been refreshing my account page since a few days ago to check on the result status.

When the results page showed on the small screen of my handphone, I must say, it was one of the best moments in my life. The rewards of my persistence and hardwork are paid off.

Two students which I had registered for exams had a Merit and Distinction!

A HUGE RELIEF!

So with this I should put a stop of me doubting myself and believe in my own abilities.

I am really proud of my students and it's really encouraging that most of my friends even my music teachers and conductors share the same joy. I will continue to work hard as a teacher and as a better pianist. 

So that's that. A huge mile stone and a big tick off my 2015 to-do list!