station, zoom out exit number two, get into another bus,and make myself "safe" by 5:30 p.m.to the house of my first tutoring kid.
As a conventional procedure, I greet him in English with a "Hello. How are you? How many classes did you have today? What did you have for lunch?" After his very well pronounced answers, we start the class with a warm-up exercise that he loves. Because he is in third grade, he is very proud of having memorized numerous sorts of animals, countries, and other such categories. The warm-up consists of saying back and forth the names of a certain category. For example, if the subject was sports, "soccer, baseball, basketball,etc." ould be going back and forth between him and me. Whoever runs out of words first must find ten words in the dictionary and memorize it by next class which takes place in two days. Subsequent to the warm-up,I check his homework, he takes a petit quiz, we read together a simple short story, and at times, I teach him songs such as "B.I.N.G.O." or give him activity sheets I have made. An hour flies by and the boy intentionally asks meaningless questions such as "Teacher, do you have seven toes?" to prevent me from leaving. Before I leave his house, I never forget to give him a big hug.
Once again, I run through the hall-way of his apartment, down the 10th floor (I usually run because I"m too impatient to wait for the elevator), and run for about 15 minutes to the second tutoring kid by 6:45 p.m. The second boy I tutor is in third grade as well. Because he has a different persona contrast to my first kid, I have a slightly dissimilar procedure to his classes, but the subjects also concern the level of a fourth or fifth grader (both of them have been learning with me for quite sometime and their English is quite advanced for their age). After his class, I make it to a coffee shop near Hongdae by 8 p.m.to teach business English to an IT company vice president for an hour.
On my way back home at about 9:20 p.m., I silently look through my day and thank God for the things I have learned. If you have followed through my day up to this paragraph, you are probably thinking, "Why in the world is she doing this to herself?" or "I doubt she can possibly digest that in a day. She"s probably given up with her school work." As a matter of fact, nothing motivates me more to do well at school than my busy lifestyle. It is a reassurance of my capabilities to use my time to full capacity.
Now, it is true that I may be situated in a position where my life demands me to earn my tuition, medical expenses, and endless
demands of those colorful papers in our wallet. But as much as money takes an eminent role in society, am even more aware of how miserable I would feel to work for money rather than for myself as well as others.
About a week ago,through various examinations at the hospital, I found out that I was diagnosed with liver problems. For the first time in my two years of tutoring experience, I had to cancel a day of tutoring job because of the doctor"s demands. As I told the news to all the parents and the students I teach, every single one wept and took immense concern for me. The wife of the businessman I teach actually searched for my address and brought me soup and fruits (I am currently living by myself in Korea with no relatives). Now you might be a bit more persuaded about why I willingly go through such a busy schedule.
I teach them how to enjoy studying before being the top of the class. I teach them how to value a relationship between people. I, myself, learn all these things from them. Every relationship is mutual. Whether it is one with a student and a teacher, a parent and a child or amongst friends. I am confident to say that I love to be a tutor.If one is willing to teach with an open heart and not just with definitions and equations, I may say with true confidence that anyone could be a skilled tutor. After all, they will teach you an exact amount or more of what you teach to them, never less.
Kim Ye-in
(Division of Int"l Studies, 2)