Sitting by the window sill, I pondered in desolation my purpose in life. Since a tender age I have been inculcated by a money-driven society in which money defines people. Hence, as they would say it, it is wise to pick a career with a huge income, and I thought they were right. However soon I became devastated, knowing the fact that none of those so-called careers took my interest. My joy was soon overshadowed by thoughts of failure.
I then recalled those days when I was still teaching English in an orphanage (I was in primary 5 at that time). I remembered how they welcomed me with their radiant smiles and exuberant desire to learn, how I would teach them new vocabulary items and grammatical rules, and how they loved being appreciated. Their positive energy penetrated into my soul and I would never get tired of teaching them no matter how exhausted I was after a horse-back riding practice. Then something hit me: this was what I wanted to do.
As years go by, I no longer have the time to visit and teach them every week. However, my love for teaching endures. In my junior high school years I was appointed as a tutor to help my fellow schoolmates do their homework and study for their tests. In senior high school, I signed up for the tutoring program as a chemistry tutor. Certainly, I had to accept the consequences of staying late at school, but it didn’t matter to me because making people understand what they did not mattered more.
My determination to teach eventually grew stronger. As a young adult living in a third world nation, I witnessed the mediocrity of education in my country. On TV screens and in newspapers, it is evident that teachers and schools are still sparse in the outskirts of Indonesia. Little children have to cross a dangling bridge, ford turbulent waters, or even climb steep cliffs in order to go to school. Many potential students are forced to stop learning since there are no more teachers competent enough to teach their level. These difficult circumstances have driven me to reach them and give them the proper education they deserve.
In order to reach that goal, I must first equip myself with the necessary skills. I strongly believe that Victoria University can help me accomplish my aspiration. As an institution with an array of diversity, VU is the perfect place to meet different kinds of people and learn such a new culture as flexibility and custom-tolerance is what educators teaching in a foreign place need best. Another reason why I think VU is the best choice is because it offers more placement hours than any other teaching course. As a student, I want to be exposed to as much teaching experience as possible before starting my own career. Moreover, VU also has programs such as the Education International Placement which allows students to teach English in various parts of the world for 10-14 days. Another great thing about VU is that it is located in the city of Melbourne, which according to the 2017 Student Cities Table, ranked the fifth best student city in the world.
Ten years from now, I envision myself teaching in the interior of Indonesia with a smile plastered on my face. I may not be the richest, but I will be building my nation. It may not be the most popular career, but it will be contributing to the world of education.