"Daughter Not Doctor!"

In my younger and more vulnerable years, some teachers did things that hurt me so much that even made me feel inferior.

1: "You think you are the only one who knows how to calculate this?"

I went to kindergarten when I was four years old. Because I started going to school at the same time as my big sister, I was the youngest student in that class. From my parents' memory, when I was a little girl, I was always timid for strangers and serious people.

Unfortunately for me, my math teacher happened to be a very strict and serious person. One day, he asked us to do some simple calculations, like "1+2=?". I started calculating while reading softly the questions and my answers. I am not a person that likes to show-off myself. I simply did not know that I should not read out my answers in case that other students heard and copied my answers rather than solving the problems by themselves.

Suddenly, I heard the teacher said loudly and angrily: "Be quiet! You think you are the only person who knows how to calculate this?" I felt terrible about myself as if I did some horrible things.

2: "Daughter Not Doctor!"

I started learning English when I went to junior middle school. The English teachers in my hometown-a very small and remote town-knew little about how to teach English. They simply asked us to memorize words and read paragraphs in the textbooks. My English teacher was a handsome young man. When he first entered the classroom, he started a speech in English. We, English beginners who couldn't speak a complete sentence, marveled at his English, which we couldn't understand at all. By doing that, he tried to establish his authority in the class.

One day in the English class, he asked me to read a paragraph in front of the class. I read it without noticing that I mistakenly pronounced "Daughter" as "Doctor". He asked me to read that paragraph again expecting me to correct myself. I immediately knew I did something wrong, but I had no idea what I did wrong. I read it again still making that same mistake. He asked me to re-read again and again. I don't remember how many times I read that paragraph. Eventually, he told me:"It's daughter not doctor!"

I remember that I hated myself making such stupid mistake and I felt that I was humiliated in front of all my classmates. Even today, I can see the picture of a young girl standing in the classroom hanging her head in shame.

Whenever I remember those things, I wish I could go back in time to protect that little girl, to tell those teachers that there is a better way to correct mistakes of students, to ensure the young me that you are not inferior because of those mistakes. Also because of this, I wish I could become a teacher not only to give students knowledge, but also to help them to become the people they are supposed to be.