With experience comes wisdom

MRS CHEE was my teacher in primary school. She had short curly brown hair and gentle eyes that wrinkled at the sides every time she smiled. I loved the charming old lady for all that she was.

When I was six, my parents sent me to school. Soon after I set foot in class, I cried and nothing could stop me. Mrs Chee and my mother tried their best to comfort me but that did not help. That was all I remember of my first day at school.

The second day was better. I perched shyly on the wooden chair with my legs dangling as Mrs Chee taught my first English lesson. I learnt how to write a few simple English words and pronounce them. It was quite fun and I slowly grew to love the kind teacher.

Day after day and week after week, my English slowly improved. When I was eight years old, I tried my hand at writing short stories. They were full of grammatical mistakes but Mrs Chee patiently corrected them.

I had never seen her lose her temper, even when I repeatedly made mistakes.

She would tick me off gently, but that was only on rare instances.

From short stories, I started writing longer essays. The longest I had ever written took up six pages of my exercise book!

Looking back, I did not think it was that good, but the important thing was that Mrs Chee encouraged me to go further and try harder. I learnt a great deal from her.

I must admit that there was a time when I was lazy and did not finish my homework. Mrs Chee did not reprimand me, but her eyes said everything — that she was disappointed with me.

It was a phase in my life that I am not proud of. In fact, I was quite ashamed and apologised to Mrs Chee profusely.

All she said was “Never mind, Wei Yan. I hope you will turn over a new leaf from now on.” I did. I told myself that I needed to change and began doing my homework everyday.

I even took the initiative to write extra essays.

Mrs Chee never complained about all the extra work although she had to read and mark my essays.

Mrs Chee was full of wisdom and loved telling stories, mostly about her own experiences, and I gained from those interesting stories and meaningful lessons in life.

She taught me to love nature and was tireless in her quest to prepare me for an English storytelling competition.

I was worried that I would lose but she said that winning was not everything. Mrs Chee reminded me that what was more important was to try my best and not give up.

When I was about 10 years old, Mrs Chee took me to the stream beside her house. She made a paper boat and both of us watched it float on the water.

It was one of my best days. Recently, I made a paperboat and let it flow in a stream — it is my way of remembering a wonderful teacher. She played a crucial role in my childhood.

I remember going to the airport to bid her farewell when she left for New Zealand but I lost contact with her after that.

Mrs Chee, you will always be my favourite teacher, now and forever. Thank you! SOH WEI YAN