LETTERS: Being an educator is fascinating as one comes across a diverse array of personalities and characteristics.
Even after years of being in the profession, I find that there is always something happening that gives me cause to reflect and think.
I work as an English language lecturer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. All my classes are conducted online now. I would like to share the stories of two students in the recent academic year.
I taught the male student, who I will call M, since the start of the semester, while I met the female student, H, only at the end of the semester when I invigilated an oral examination with my colleague.
They both attended lessons and underwent the same tests and examinations. The number of hours and lessons involved, and assignments were similar.
However, their personalities and motivations are worlds apart. M frequently made excuses that he could not participate in class due to "poor Internet connection" although he lived in Kuala Lumpur which had a rather decent Internet coverage.
He did not submit his assignments despite given reminders.
Each time I did, he would apologise and promised to do it as soon as possible, but he never did.
A colleague was disappointed when she found that his essay was 98 per cent lifted from online sources.
Granted, he was not a model student, but as an educator, one still feels let down when this happens.
H, on the other hand, was totally different. She had to do the oral examination at a cafe with traffic buzzing in the background, for which she apologised.
It was soon learnt that she was from Johor and had enquired about getting wifi connection for her home but was told that there was no coverage in her area. For classes, as well as examinations, she would drive to a cafe that had wifi service.
She admitted that it was expensive for her to do so as she had to buy food or drinks to use the service at the cafe. To cope, she worked at a KFC outlet and often completed her lessons and assignments in between work.
Not only that, her mother operates a nasi lemak and kuih stall. She had to prepare the things to sell at her stall after midnight daily so that they would be fresh in the morning. H also helped out at her mother's stall.
It is my hope that with the example set by her hardworking mother, H will go far in life. She is not afraid of hard work and is a indeed a determined young lady.
As for M, I cannot predict what will happen. Sometimes life is not fair. There are countless lazy, unmotivated people who end up doing well although they may not seem to deserve it.
The Book of Fate is still open and the ending is not known yet — only time will tell what happens to these two students. In all likelihood, I will never know.
NESAMALAR PANJALINGAM
Lecturer, International Islamic University of Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times