The Chinese New Year break has been a good time for me to take stock of the past 7 months as a Beginning Teacher. Each day that passes is a new day filled with excitement and adventure. I look forward to each day, some days more enthusiastically than others, because I get to interact with the students as well as to share life with the rest of my colleagues. Each day brings new challenges, and new challenges come with new lessons to learn. I am reminding myself that learning never ends even when we leave school; learning is a lifelong process. I remember this and am humbled by it. It is with this thought in mind that I am encouraged to be a role model to students as they embark on their own learning journey.

Despite wanting to be the teacher who always gives her best to students, I am reminded each day to put aside some time for myself. Time for me to be in quietness and stillness before the Lord. This comes as I ask myself how can I help my students to grow when I myself am not growing? How can I bear fruit in my role as a teacher? In truth, I cannot bear fruit nor reach out to students under my care on my own strength. John 15:5 sums it up nicely: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a (wo)man remains in me and I in (her), (she) will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Abiding in Christ, depending on Him to go through the challenges of each day and keeping my eyes on Him are things I have to constantly remind myself about. It needs to be a conscious and deliberate effort to do so. With that, I find new courage and enthusiasm to face the adventures of each school day, for now, one day at a time.