Teaching in Hunan  2011

Working with kids produces a joy that can never be duplicated, an experience I hold very dear to my heart. Seeing the understanding light up their eyes is a reward that lasts a lifetime, something that is worth toiling hours over.
I got a chance to experience this first hand in Hunan with kids ages thirteen to nineteen. We visited schools, filled with handpicked students yearning for knowledge and ravenous for education. It jolted me to discover that they just wanted to learn because they loved it so. Though many indeed lived in dire situations, some with no family to return to, others attended school simply because they wished to enhance their English. A handful even returned for an extra day of instruction. Unlike many other students who laze around, these students were highly motivated, studying in school for fourteen hours every school day. They prefer to stay in a classroom for seven hours in the middle of their summer break rather than frolic outside in the sun.
These students were really awe-inspiring, and I believe that I learned more from them than they did from me. They taught me to persevere and to stay determined no matter the circumstances. Education is an escape from reality, an escape that can ultimately become reality. It is held to the utmost value and placed on a pedestal; learning for the sake and love of learning only bears fruit.
Now I am back at home, far away from the hot weather of Hunan, but the kids will stay in my heart forever. Their yearning and love for knowledge is imprinted in my mind and is a goal for myself to achieve. I hope that I may be able to return one day, to either meet up with those kids or assist new ones in their English. In all ways, this trip is a memory and a lesson of a lifetime.

Astrid Hsu 2011 Aug