The best teacher
SWAMI Vivekananda defined education as the manifestation of the perfection already in man. This means that we are all potentially perfect and education brings that out. But how many teachers see that in us?
Certainly not the head teacher in Kulukulu, Sigatoka that called her students “knuckleheads”. Certainly not my Form 5 English teacher, Mr Mehta, who called me a “damn fool” all the time and kick me out of the class because I did not know what “finite verbs” were. I still don’t.
Teachers can make such a remarkable impact on their students. And I have great respect for some of mine. But I can count them on one hand. This is why the story about a primary school teacher, Mrs Thompson, resonates so well with me. I still tear up when I read it. I wish all teachers are like her or, at least, learn to be like her.
As Mrs Thompson stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the first day of school, she told her children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and told them that she loved them all the same. But that simply was not true, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn’t play well with the other children. His clothes were messy and he constantly needed a bath. Teddy could be unpleasant at times. So Mrs Thompson would take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen and making bold X’s and finally putting a Big “F” on the top of his papers.
Mrs Thompson was required to review each child’s past records. She put Teddy’s off till last. When she finally reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy’s firstgrade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners. He’s a joy to be around.”
His second-grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student and well-liked by his classmates. But he’s troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”
His third-grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn’t show much interest. His home life will soon affect him if steps aren’t taken.” Teddy’s fourth-grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and sometimes he even sleeps in class.”
By now, Mrs Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s.
His present was clumsily
– wrapped in heavy brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she explained how pretty the bracelet was while putting it on and then dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.
Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs Thompson, today you smell just like my mom used to.” After the children left, she cried for at least an hour.
On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic and instead she began to teach children. Mrs Thompson began to pay close attention to Teddy as she worked with him. As time went on, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class. Despite her lie, he had become one of her teacher’s pets. A year later she found a note under the door from Teddy telling her that she was the best teacher he had ever had in his whole life.
Six years passed by and to her surprise, another note came from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school third in his class and that she was still the best teacher that he had ever had in his whole life. Four years later, another letter came, saying that while things had been tough at times, he stayed in school and stuck with it and that he had graduated from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs Thompson that she was still the very best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.
Four more years passed by and yet another letter came. This time, he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he had decided to go a little further. Again, assuring her that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. The letter was signed Theodore F. Stoddard MD.
There was one final letter that spring. Teddy said that he had met this girl and that he was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs Thompson might agree to sit in the place, at his wedding, that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs Thompson did. She wore that bracelet, the one with the several rhinestones missing. She also made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
After the wedding, they hugged each other as Dr Stoddard whispered in Mrs Thompson’s ear, “Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.” Mrs Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
Teachers can make such a remarkable impact on their students. And I have great respect for some of mine. But I can count them on one hand. This is why the story about a primary school teacher, Mrs Thompson, resonates so well with me. I still tear up when I read it. I wish all teachers are like her or, at least, learn to be like her.
Arvind Mani
WORLD cruises might just be the ultimate reward for a well-lived and planned life, a great retirement adventure.
Majority of those who come to the Port of Suva in large cruise ships are elderly citizens, and those I’ve spoken to, saved up their entire lives.
On February 20, MSC Poesia sailed stunningly into the Suva Harbour, with glimmering white exterior.
A little before 10am, I headed out to the South gate quite eager to go onboard.
The only other time I went onboard a ship were the usual naval vessels and once a fancy ship that sold books around 10 years ago.
Aside from that, the only experience I got from cruise ships were from movies including Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, where they were on a Caribbean cruise.
The port was already buzzing with passengers from the cruise and tourism agencies with their travel plans trying to attract tourists with their usual, ‘Bula.’
The ship operator, Mediterranean Shipping Company, had invited guests to experience the day inside MSC Poesia.
A kava ceremony was done first in the presence of MSC representatives and invited guests including the Ministry of External Trade, Cooperatives and SMEs permanent secretary Shaheen Ali and Assistant Minister for Finance Esrom Immanuel.
Soon after all formalities were completed, we embarked the ship and went through a security check.
The air was different. The interior was incredibly designed that it immediately made you feel relaxed and ready to go on a cruise yourself.
We were taken to one of the lounge areas for formalities. With a chilled glass of orange juice and smoked salmon canapés provided by neatly dressed waiters, a brief history of the ship was given by MSC Cruises Australia chairman Lynne Susan Clarke.
Clarke explained how MSC was the largest family owned and operated cruise line since launching their first ship MSC Lyrica in 2003.
She said how her name Poesia depicted the spirit of the ship and in Italian it meant poetry.
After the crest exchange and presentation, we headed for lunch, however, on the way a group of us got lost as we somehow forgot the instructions to head down to level five.
We finally got on the elevator and entered a sophisticated dining venue called the Le Fontane Ristorante.
While seated I browsed through the menu and ordered a main and a dessert. The staff were very professional, and the food arrived within minutes of ordering.
I ordered an oven roasted pork with mustard and fine herbs with roasted new potatoes and buttered green herbs.
For dessert I had a sour cherry sundae that had white vanilla ice cream, sour cherries and whipped cream. I was pleasantly full after my meal that I began to feel sleepy.
But the day had not ended yet, and shortly after we began the ship tour.
A representative from MSC Australia shared interesting facts about the ship.
Earlier I had noticed that workers near the hull of the ship were painting.
The guide mentioned that they were painting it white and at very port they stopped at, spots that needed to be painted were done.
The maintenance of the ship was to a pristine level and to such a high standard that you’d hardly find any rust.
The ship has the capacity of taking onboard about 3200 passengers and can hold 1700 staff to maintain operations.
MSC Poesia is one of the smaller ships within the cruise line which enables her to enter small ports such as Suva.
For crew members onboard, the requirement is to speak four languages and all ship announcements are made in no less than five languages including Italian, Spanish, French and German.
From the main dining rooms of Il Palladio and Le Fontane, to their cafeteria called the Villa Pompeiana that’s serves buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner to their specialty restaurant L’Obelisco, the menu is extensive.
They even have a Kaito Sushi Bar for guests who are in the mood for something different. I don’t think the ship could ever run out of food options.
The ship has eight bar and lounge areas. The interesting one was ‘The
Zebra Bar’ where the furniture were in stripes of black and white.
Entertainment onboard is different every night, nothing is ever the same and the tour guide mentioned how the ‘Europeans loved dancing.’
With eight different entertainment spaces for guests to enjoy, we were able to view two, the Casino Royal and the Teatro Carlo Felice named after the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy.
Unlike American cruise lines where smoking is prohibited in casinos, this one allows you to smoke. A special system keeps the air clean and fresh.
Also the opera house has an international troupe of entertainers, and at each port they dock at they often take onboard locals to carry them away with their performances.
The décor on MSC Poesia is very elegant with marble floors and decorative columns.
Our final stop was at the top deck which had three different pool sections, the heat that day was intense at that level but guests were enjoying their time, some in the pool and others on the lounge chairs reading a book or conversing with their partners.
Guests who purchase the “Aurea experience” get to enjoy access to exclusive areas of the ship, one just has to pay more.
As were began to disembark the ship, we passed through the cabin section. I began to feel claustrophobic in the narrow passageway and started imagining what I’d do if the ship would suddenly sink.
We ended the tour at around half two in the afternoon and as I walked back to the office, guests were returning to the ship from their day in the city. The ship left later that
afternoon.
— shanelle.prasad@fijitimes.com.fj