by Maniku Jein

Being a teacher is not easy, sometimes you need to be a hard person however in one moment you need to be a soft person. That evening, I come to see his tears come out from the beautiful eyes again. He is my student, called him Pete. The boy with 7 years old, good looking and warm to everybody who he meets. I’ve taught him for 2 years and this year comes to the end of 3rd years. I know exactly he has a weakness in memorizing alphabet and learning about science or another subject. But I believe all children have their own ability, they are special, unique and cannot compare to other.

“Ms… I’ve bullied by my classmate today” he says.

“What did they do?” I answer.

“They call me stupid. Because I can’t answer my teacher’s question”

He sniffles and I class him in my arm, I know that is his weakness in learning activity. Maybe he is not smarter than another child but he is not stupid. I know he has something different that his friend cannot do that.

“Mommy says too. Why am I stupid.” He continues.

“No, you’re not. You are smart and you have to believe yourself” I calm him.

That evening, I continue to teach him. His mom wants him to be the star of the class. I try to explain that every child is different. We cannot press our child to be like another. We have to appreciate everything that our child does. 

What makes a child special? It comes from our believe to his/her self. I believe every child has uniqueness and as a parent or teacher, we should build confidence in our child and create a bright and healthy self-image. I’ve observed Pete for 2 years; he is good in kinaesthetic area and maybe music too. Even he’s not good in language, math, or science. However, he has strength in kinaesthetic and music area. I don’t want to blame his mother because I know every parent wants the best for the children. But in this case, the understanding of uniqueness might be a potential of the children that can make them to be successful at in the future.

“Pete, promise me to be a positive person. Whatever people talk about you

or blame you. Receive all to be positive nor negative. Promise me to believe

yourself and not compare to others” I say to him.

He nodded and hug me tightly. I smile to him.

“I promise you, Ms”

“Good boy. I know you are my good boy”

One day, I buy him a set of crayons, he’s excited to colour the book but I ask him to draw something. He tries to draw me. Well, even the draw is not really good. I appreciate what he drew. I always give him a motivation and support him. Then, at the day I buy him a set of paint. He ignores first because he doesn’t believe he can paint something. But I teach him to blend the colour and make a draft. He tries to apply the colour by using the brush. We laugh together and play the paint colour. He tries to paint me and failed. We laugh together, I say to keep all his drawing and painting as my collection.

“I appreciate it! I’ll keep it for me.”

“It’s not perfect Ms. It’s totally failed. I am not good enough too in drawing or painting”

“Believe yourself first, then you can find your uniqueness.” I say.

Day by day passed, month by month passed. He grows up fast and today is his last semester in this year. I normally come to his house at 2 p.m. in order to make sure that instructional material for teaching him. He surprises me from behind.

“Ms….!” He shouts.

“Oh, my goodness” I reply him.

He hugs me as always, because that is his love language. Suddenly, he whispers something.

“Ms… I have a gift for you. I made it by myself”

I am curious about that.

“Is that your final score from school? How was it?” I ask him.

“It’s good Ms. I got 80 all subjects! Ms, please close your eyes!

I am happy to hear that score, finally he can get 80 score for the subject. Then I close my eyes.

“Now, open!” He shouts again.

I open my eyes and look a paper with good drawing there. Oh! Not drawing that is a painting! A painting! Yes! That is a painting!

“I made it by myself! I made it for you.” He smiles

I can’t hold my tears, I can’t believe my Pete can do this paint. For all things that failed, he is able to do this one.

“Did you? It’s beautiful. I love it! I love it! Thank you” I say with the tears

“Really? Horaaayy! Finally, I can do something great!” He shouts

“Yash! You did it Pete. I am proud of you”

“You teach me to believe myself, so I can find my uniqueness.” He reminds me the words.

“Yes! Always believe yourself. You are able to accomplish everything you set out”

He nodded and hug me. He says thank you for many times. I never imagine that my Pete can paint something with his imagination. I ask him to make another painting and he tries to paint another painting.

I love to share my experience; I want everybody who reads this will understand that children focus on who they are now rather than who they might become in the future. If you think your children do not have a special ability or always failed in doing something. Do not share it to your children. Built their self-confident. They might not good in academic achievements but they might good in another achievement. Always believe and do not compare them. Focusing on the potential that you find on them. Emphasis on their self in positive ways. I believe we are a good teacher for our students or our children.

These are his paintings that be my collection.