How did I get to love Economics?

It was many years ago.... Well, when I was young I used to live abroad and when I came back I went straight to the secondary school, to be precise, I was put in Form 5. You see, while abroad I went to some international schools which did not have the same system that we had in Brunei. As a result the subjects I took were like American History, Drama, French etc. And when I came back, I had to choose subjects which I had zero idea of. These included Economics, Principle of Accounting, Malay and History. It was in May when I resumed my education in Brunei and the 'O' level exams were in November. So imagine how panic I was!*

Anyway, my economics teacher at that time, who was local, I presumed had faith in me (my POA teacher on the other didn't..I remember she told me that I wouldn't get through with just a few months to learn things which were supposed to be learnt in 2 years..Well, Miss..I've proven you wrong!!). Back to this economics teacher (God bless him, Allah Taala saja membalasnya) he was the kind of teacher who was dedicated. Of many teachers, he was the only one who made the effort to give extra classes to his students, free of charge, to prepare for the upcoming O levels. And the way he taught us, his patience in explaining the theory of demand and supply, elasticities etc etc..was superb. And I guess because he was such a likable and friendly teacher, well we could approach him anytime we wanted, he made economics the most understandable subject I've ever learnt (to me that is). And I said to myself, this is it..for better or for worse, economics would become a part of my life..either teaching it or using it or anything to do with it.

I don't know if we still have the kind of teachers like my economics teacher. Even during the time when being a teacher was a profession that someone would chose at her/his own free will, only a few were available. What about now, I wonder, when teaching has become the profession of 'the last resort'? When becoming a teacher is probably no longer the favourite ambition of our children. Will we be able to produce dedicated teachers? Teachers who live to teach, not teach to live.

For those of you who are teachers or who are becoming one, please take pride in what you do. Being a teacher is one of the noblest job. Either directly or indirectly you get to shape-up people's lives and/or help people to determine which path they want to take in life. It is a big responsibility. So if you think teaching is not for you, then don't do it for the sake of just having a job. You might be depriving those who genuinely want to teach hence depriving students from having dedicated and good teachers.

I was extremely lucky to have met my teacher. I'm forever indebted to him. Thank you, Sir!

Salaam.

* I managed to get 7 credits out of 8 subjects. And the 1 I didn't was History (bless the teacher, he was nice too! I could never - and still can't - remember the years and the names or which year goes with what hahaha)