Job Fulfillment

“Hello! My name is Teacher Isa. What’s your name?”

Just a quick thought to revive the blog.

I read an article a few weeks back, and the feeling resonated. An animal shelter volunteer in Singapore described her work as ‘thankless’, which was why she thought volunteers were abandoning their work in animal shelters.

I thought, “what an apt word to describe how it felt to work in the hospital.” Of course, that got me to reflect on how I feel now, working as an online English teacher. And, man, was I grateful for the opportunity to compare the two roles. I immediately realised that the response I get in my current role leaves me with the complete opposite feeling. 

I teach students of all ages, and the students and their parents are so lovely. They take the time to leave reviews and write me thank you messages and to let me know they appreciate the work I’m doing. Of course, it’s a complete ego boost, but more importantly, it’s a confidence boost and even more importantly, the feedback gives me the opportunity to further improve my work. 

But let me tell you, getting that positive feedback is so sweet! It’s incredibly motivating. I’m so happy to hear that my students are happy and that they appreciate the extra effort I make to provide personalized lessons. THIS is fulfilling work. I am using my time to teach another person a new skill and they feel like they are learning. And, I can see that they are learning. My students are all different, have different needs and learn at different speeds, but I am seeing progress and so are they. THIS is fulfilling work.

I rarely felt like I made a difference as a junior doctor. I was very rarely proud of my work because often I was just frantically swimming trying to keep my head above water. Also, when the majority of your patients are frail and elderly, you're just trying to keep them going for a while longer. You're not really curing anything. It's hard to feel proud of that. 

In contrast, I can say with complete confidence that I feel proud of my work as a teacher nearly every day. Some days I'm tired or preoccupied or a little off my game, but thankfully, those are rare occasions. I may no longer feel that sense of pride that comes with being called “Doctor,” but honestly, it fills my heart with pride when a student calls me "Teacher," a sense of pride that comes with no strings attached - no imposter syndrome, no guilt, and for the most part, no grave consequences.

If you feel like you need to leave your current role ASAP, and you just need something to tie you over until you find your next thing, check out online teaching. It doesn’t have to be your next career, but it can buy you some time, and it is incredibly fulfilling work.

:)