"Cher... You want to see me?"

When I first entered junior college, my Math teacher was a trainee from NIE allocated to teach us for the next few months.

Not long after, I received my first Math tutorial back and there were the dreaded words “See Me” in red staring straight in my face.

“Cher…you want to see me?”

“Joanne, I’m quite worried for you…. do you understand the lecture? Is my lesson hard to follow? Do you need help?” Miss Tng looked at me with eyes of concern.

There and then, I felt so ashamed. The truth was I did not put in effort for my tutorial and I was there because of my shoddy work.

That day, I spent my first afternoon staying back in school for consultation. Ms Tng was very patient, though tired; she went through the entire chapter with me.

From then on, I started to be more serious in my work. I make sure I understood the lessons and take effort to seek teachers for consultation when necessary.

How blessed I was to meet Miss Ting during the early stages of my JC life. She was a trainee teacher not staying long in our school but she went the extra mile for her student. That simple act of giving transformed my attitude and life.

My L1R5 score for O Levels was 16 points, I completed my A Level with 2As and 1B and was given a place to study Chemistry in NUS.

Thank you Miss Tng.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT) So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Written by Joanne Wong, 19 years old