{"id":9035,"date":"2025-05-16T05:12:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T05:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/?p=9035"},"modified":"2025-05-16T05:12:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T05:12:30","slug":"a-teachers-journey-from-student-to-educator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/16\/a-teachers-journey-from-student-to-educator\/","title":{"rendered":"A Teacher\u2019s Journey: From Student to Educator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sis(2).Pasir Mas (1976).back row (4th frm left)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 As a child, I had two big dreams. The first was to become an Assistant District Officer (ADO), inspired by my cousin who held the position with pride. The second? To be a teacher. My teachers, despite their strictness, fascinated me. Even when they scolded me\u2014which happened often\u2014I admired them. Deep down, I thought, If I ever become a teacher, I\u2019ll be the kind who encourages rather than reprimands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One memory still lingers\u2014a night of tears over a *Bahasa Melayu* homework on *peribahasa* (proverbs). The assignment was due the next day, and I was paralyzed with fear\u2014not of failing, but of facing my teacher\u2019s disapproval. My mother, seeing my distress, woke my older brother (already asleep!) to help. Grumbling, he scribbled the answers and shoved the book back  at me, annoyed at the disturbance. Clutching that battered exercise book, I stared at his messy handwriting, repeating the phrases until they stuck. I fell asleep with a strange sense of triumph\u2014only for the teacher to never check the homework the next day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science, however, was my escape. I was captivated by how light traveled in straight lines, how a pinhole could project an upside-down image on a screen. Determined to impress, I built a model using a dark cylinder and\u2014in a stroke of childish genius\u2014used oiled paper as the screen. The next morning, I rushed to my teacher, eager for praise. He glanced at it, smudged his fingers, and set it aside without a word. My heart sank.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, despite the lack of validation, I loved school. Even after classes ended, I\u2019d linger on the grounds, wandering alone while others attended extracurriculars. There was something comforting about those empty corridors.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SMS Kelantan (1981)(3rd row 3rd from left)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Boarding school was a different beast\u2014brutal, isolating, and formative. Teachers became my unsung heroes. I was never the top student; in fact, I hovered near the bottom of the class. But they guided me, knowingly or not, through those turbulent years. I kept my head down, followed the rules, and survived\u2014thanks to them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decades later, when I met some of them again, they still remembered me. That connection, unbroken by time, amazed me.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a teacher myself, I remember my good old days. When I stepped into my first classroom at Sedaya College (now a university in Cheras), I was young and inexperienced. My students\u2014the first batch of a business computing twinning program with the University of Winnipeg\u2014taught me as much as I taught them. They showed me how to navigate city life, bridge cultural gaps, and connect beyond age and race. Seeing them graduate filled me with a joy only a teacher could understand.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Uitm Dungun.1995.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Later, at UiTM, I taught Computer Science\u2014from diploma to PhD. Teaching wasn\u2019t just a job; it became my life. It didn\u2019t make me rich, but it gave me something greater: purpose.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Camping with students in Cameron Highlands<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Gunung Berembun (2013)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Boys just wanna have fun.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The best moments? Reunions with former students, laughing over shared memories. In the classroom, it had been just us\u2014no distractions, just learning (and sometimes, my terrible jokes to lighten the mood). Not all memories were perfect\u2014some students cheated, ignored lectures, or tested my patience. But even those challenges taught me resilience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Exam at Uitm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After 30 years at UiTM, I retired. Teaching gave me more than I ever dreamed\u2014a beautiful life, unforgettable faces, and the privilege of shaping futures.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

with ex-student Hafiz and his family.(2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To all my students: Thank you for the journey.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to every teacher out there: *Happy Teacher\u2019s Day .<\/p>\n\n\n

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with my teacher Cg Hasan Baseri Budiman.Sg.Petani(2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

May your passion continue to light the way for others.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Cikgu Ismail. Kg. Guar Cempedak(2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Cg. Saad Nayan.Kangar(2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 As a child, I had two big dreams. The first was to become an Assistant District Officer (ADO), inspired by my cousin who held the position with pride. The second? To be a teacher. My teachers, despite their strictness, fascinated me. Even when they scolded me\u2014which happened often\u2014I admired them. Deep down, I thought, If …<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[65,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9035"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9049,"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035\/revisions\/9049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordinabubakar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}