20 years ago in 1996, when
I was a teacher trainee, I sat on a big blue chair in the lecturer’s room
dreaming to become a lecturer one day. Now I am sitting here again but fulfilling
my dream as a lecturer. Many people have a dream, sometimes the dream is
achievable but sometimes it is unreachable. It depends on our determination and
persistence to make it come true. My dream took twenty years of my learning
journey to come true.
Born in 1971 and brought up
at a small town in Batu Pahat, Johor, Yee Bee Choo is my name. All the schools
I attended were girls’ schools. My primary school was SJK(C) Ai Chun 2, then I
continued at SMK Convent and SMK (Perempuan) Temenggong Ibrahim. After
struggling as a tuition teacher for two years, I decided to become a temporary
teacher. My first posting was at SJK (C) Kong Nan, Parit Raja. I started
teaching there in 1993 and after three years I was offered a 3-year diploma
programme in Mandarin Studies. The programme was called “Course During School Holidays”
or Kursus Dalam Cuti (KDC) offered specifically
for temporary teachers. It was carried out during the school holidays and I was
still a teacher during school days. I was already 25 years old then, an age not
too young and old, but I enjoyed my college life at Maktab Perguruan Batu Pahat
(MPBP). During my studying at MPBP, I was the assistant option leader or Penolong Ketua Opsyen (PKO), I often
went to the lecturer’s room to look for lecturers to come to our class. I still
remember handphones were not popular that time, how fortunate our trainees are nowadays
as they can call or WhatsApp the lecturers to confirm the class. However, 20
years ago, my option leader and I had to walk to the lecturer’s room a few
times a day, and sometimes we had to use the public phone outside the library
to call the lecturers.
After my diploma course was
over, I still continue teaching at the same primary school as a teacher with
the grade DG29. I taught both Mandarin and English languages in school. In
2003, an advertisement from Ministry of Education attracted my attention and I
applied to study a degree course on Teaching English as a Second Language
(TESL) at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). I was offered half-paid of my salary
in order to study full time in the university. I still remember my salary was only
RM180 after the reduction of half-paid salary and housing loan and I had a baby
boy aged 2 years old. Life was difficult but with determination and
persistence, I was able to survive my university life with my husband’s
sufficient income and the loan from PTPTN. After finishing the degree course, I
was posted to a secondary school at SMK Semerah as an English teacher with the
grade DG41. I did not end my learning there, I continued my master course
part-time at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 2008. It was not easy to
work and study at the same time especially my job does not only teach the
students but also involve organising activities, doing paper work and key in
students’ data online.
Then, I applied to become a
lecturer after I obtained my master degree and I was accepted in 2013. The same
lecturer’s room and lecture rooms remained the same but the college was no
longer MPBP but it is named Institute Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Hussein Onn
(IPGKTHO) now. My previous lecturers were happy to welcome me as their new
colleague. I know learning is a lifelong experience, so my learning journey
does not end here, I am now studying part-time as a PhD student at UTM.
I have worked very hard to
achieve my dream. I improve myself by studying from diploma to degree and
master and now PhD. I have been teachers in primary and secondary schools and
now a lecturer at institute of teacher education. I believe if I did not take
the bold step to take up the degree course at the age of 32 years old in 2003,
I will not be here as a lecturer. I am happy I have achieved my dream to become
a lecturer at the same place where I had studied. Here, I can contribute and
share my knowledge and experience with the teacher trainees. I hope my learning
journey can inspire all teachers to never stop learning and achieve their
dreams one day.
