My Mom has always been the biggest supporter for me to become a teacher. My Dad has never specified what he wanted me to be since I was a kid. Well, he was and is a very busy man. When I was young, I always dreamt of becoming a banker, or anything to do with numbers. Back when I was in primary school, I remember I told my teachers that I wanted to be a bank officer (pegawai bank). As I grew up learning, I found my interest in accountancy. Hence, when I was in secondary school, I wished to become an accountant.
I always performed well for English paper during exams. My English teacher always said that I could be a good English teacher like him too. I said, I didn't want to become a teacher. I wanted to be an accountant. SPM result came out and my result was not that bad. I applied for both accountancy and banking programmes. However, my 3rd choice which was Foundation in English Language was the one offered to me.
I remember when I applied that UPU, my friends and I used the school internet and my teacher helped me to apply it. He, Sir Awang, suggested me to apply the English course as he said from my result, I was qualified to apply. I did and yeah, I was offered.
5 1/2 years of studying until I graduated from the same University, which was International Islamic University Malaysia, I still couldn't find my path of life. At once I thought, why God didn't give me the chance to study Accountancy? I realized that I'm not good with numbers and bad at it. English is my only food for life then.
In 2012, my first job after declared graduated was being an English tutor at a learning centre. It is known as Kumon learning centre in my hometown located at mile 4. I worked on Mondays and Thursdays only, from 2pm - 9pm. It was indeed a career startup for me. There I found my passion. I found my passion in teaching. I never thought I would love doing it because I was too resistant on being a teacher myself before that.
Time passed by, I spent 9 months there. In early 2013, I got an offer to teach at another learning centre. This time around was at a larger audience in a classroom. I had the opportunities to become a teacher but they were all not a stable job for me. The salary given was indeed very low compared to other professions. But I remained staying there for about 10 months. It was very hard for me to look for jobs in my hometown that offered me higher salary based on my qualification. I wanted to work in KL but my parents didn't let me. So I did many jobs at once. I had experienced being a substitute teacher at a government school and many other tuition centres. I taught here and there for the sake of big income.
Until year 3 after my graduation, I decided to move out from my place. I've moved to Kota Kinabalu in 2014. It was definitely a hard decision to make. Lucky that I got a job New Sabah Times and that was my first job which was not related to teaching, and my very first job to be offered a fixed monthly salary. I cannot deny that I do envy my other friends who graduated the same year like me but are in stable condition where they are working at stable companies, or being a government officer themselves.
Sometimes I question myself. What did I do wrong in the past that God punishes me this way? Why can't I be like them too? It was just a temporary feeling that made me realise to be grateful afterwards. I believe it's not just me the only one. I bet there are some other graduates who work and are paid lower than expected (or deserved) like me.
Some people may have easier pathways, some people have to struggle. I guess I'm on the latter. Yeah, I have been struggling all these years just to let myself get a better place to work and paid. I spent 18 months at New Sabah Times, and 2 months prior to that, I started to miss my teaching environment. I've missed teaching. I felt I want to do that. That's my passion. That's what I want to do in this life.
So I started looking for opportunities. Luckily there was a vacancy at Kiara College (KC) where I first started teaching experience in KK. I think it was just my luck because I have experience and a bit more senior compared to other candidates. I accepted the offer and that was in January 2016. I started as a part-timer since I was still working at NST. So, can you imagine, I worked from 8.30 am - 11.30 am (sometimes at 12.00 nn) at KC and then continued my work at NST at 12.00 nn - 6 pm. The 1/2 hour in between was spent for the duration taken from KC to NST.
Just imagine, I didn't have a car that time. I hired (literally paid) a charter driver to drive me here and there. Knowing that I wanted to do teaching as a full-time career, I decided to quit my job at NST. So I began as a full-time staff at KC in March. I thought everything was okay until the end of 2016 which was in December, where for the first time my salary wasn't paid. It is a very long story. But I decided not to pursue my career there anymore. So, I tendered my notice of resignation in January and my last day was on the end of March.
I thought my life was done until that very moment (the last few months at KC) I realised that maybe it was not the right time for me to be working at a stable company and given the opportunity to be stable too. I always thought this is God's punishment for me. So I stayed patient and always believe that there must a good thing beyond all these.
On my very last day at KC, Zahid (my ex-colleague at KC now still a colleague) told me regarding a vacancy at Cosmopoint, the college he works at. I applied it and guess what, I got it. I think God has given me another chance and this is all that it is. I started working at Cosmopoint College (CC) in April 2017.
I'm still working at the same college and still having the passion on teaching. I want to thank my Mom for always believing in my capabilities and always praying for me to become a teacher since I was little. Mother's instinct is real, guys.
I know the pay that I received at CC is not as much as how I expected and how people would assume. However, I'm more than happier being here. Thank you Allah for saving me from being jobless after my last day at KC last year. I believe there's always a good lesson beyond all the bad or unfortunate things that happen to us. Believe in His plan. Never forget to always be grateful too. I know my career startup and journey are a bit late but I'm still happy for this. Age is just a number and enjoy this life as much as you can. That is all that matters to me. :)
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