Somewhere I belonged

I had enjoyed school growing up, as long as people leaves me alone.

Awkward was I at every age, and in every school.

My late father's job made us move to a new location every 2 years. Being the eldest child, I have learnt to coordinate the packing and moving, and my brother and I adapted to being the new kid in school, every time. From age 7 to 17 we had been to 7 schools. My children in contrast went to 2 schools. One primary and the Other, secondary. Their friends are the folks they grew up with. Glad am I to be able to allow them this sort of stability.

I was bullied in school, especially when I started secondary school. I don't really know why they don't like me, but I made friends with the other bullied kids. We got by, and looking at the big picture we did quite alright.

At school I studied, and did what I was told to do. I was an average student and stayed out of trouble for the most part. I hated homework and didn't like Maths that much, and especially hated drawing and colouring maps for Geography.

When I joined MRSM Kota Bharu in 1990 (now known as MRSM Pengkalan Chepa), a new world (I thought) was opened to me. This was a wonderful new experience. We didn't have homework, so that was fantastic. Even if we did, the teachers never forced them down our throats. I still hated Maths, and Chemistry, and Physics but was able to survive (just barely). The students were super smart. There was an Add Maths genius in our class. The teacher would write the question & by the time she finished writing on the board he already had the answer. I had 1/100th of his brainpower, and took me the longest time to understand the question, and after that work on the mysterious formulae.

The experience in MRSM shaped me in my learning and teaching. I enjoy lessons that piqued the mind and engage me in thinking/ giving an opinion. As a lecturer, I almost never give homework to my students, I love independent learning, and I let my students explore their own learning style.