Cheers & Tears

Mae La Noi Daroonsik Graduation

Well, I can now officially add Mae La Noi Daroonsik to the list of places where I have cried in public. Now before you get too worried, I promise you it was a good thing. For those of you who know me well, you know that I’m a crier. Books, movies, commercials, old people, inspirational soccer montages… It doesn’t take much to get my tear ducts flowing. I have the unfortunate (or possibly fortunate, depending on how you look at it) characteristic of becoming way too attached to people way too quickly and this often leads to me shedding a few tears at some point. I can’t help it - I just like people too much. And the people at MLND, specifically the students, have not been immune to this tendency of mine to attach too hard and to care too much. But of course every time you make a connection with a person you also ultimately set yourself up for the heartache of saying goodbye at some point and that it what got my tears flowing this past week.

On Thursday, MLND hosted a full day of ceremonies and celebrations for the students in grades 9 and 12 who were graduating this year. The students in Grade 12 will be moving on to university, the workforce, or moving home, while the students in Grade 9 will still be attending MLND next year. When I asked about the reasoning behind having a graduation for Grade 9 I got a lot of shrugs and “I don’t knows,” so I’ll just have to add that to the list of things I’ll never understand here. The graduation ceremony was incredible. The entire campus was decorated with little stations for taking pictures that students had designed themselves. After morning announcements all of the graduates gathered together and were surrounded by students from Grade 10 who joined hands and congratulated them through song and dance. Students and teachers then lined up, making a pathway for graduates to follow from the front of Building 3 and into the gym. They each held balloons and candy and stuffed animals to hand out to their friends and classmates. The procession finally began and by the end of it some students were so loaded with gifts that you could barely see their faces peeking out from under a mound of decorative necklaces and sweets.

The formal ceremony itself wasn’t much different from my own high school graduation ceremony. Names were called. Diplomas were received. Hands were clapped. My eyes had proudly remained dry up to this point in the day, but it was what happened after that really got me. After a blessing, teachers were handed out clumps of “sai sin,” which are thin pieces of white string bracelets that have been blessed by monks with good fortune and health. We then sat around the gym and students lined up to receive a bracelet and a blessing from the teachers of their choice. Since I never learned much Thai vocabulary related to giving blessings, I mostly just wished the students good luck and would sometimes throw in an “Amazing Thailand” which was always received with a smile and hearty laugh. While I enjoyed giving out these bracelets, what really moved me was getting to watch my fellow teachers say goodbye to students who they had mentored for up to six years. In Thai culture outward displays of extreme emotions or affections are pretty taboo, but in this special environment I was able to see physical displays of how much my fellow teachers cared about their students and it was beautiful. I watched as one of my favorite students hugged his dance teacher, both sobbing, and of course that made me sob, but also made me proud to be part of a community that cares so deeply.

Although graduation has already come and gone, classes and final exams are still in session. This past week has been a whirlwind of test taking and hunting down students who are late in turning in their work. But even during all the madness there have been those moments that every teacher lives for. My favorite came at the end of my last exam with my class of 12th graders. I had already cried twice in class during that week at the thought of not seeing them next semester, so it’s safe to say that out of all my groups of students I have become most closely bonded to this stellar group of 30 individuals. I was sitting in the hallway with my students as they took their final exam when the first one finished. He came up to hand in his exam to which I responded with my typical “Yay! You did it!” and offered him candy, but instead of smiling and accepting he said he needed a minute and he sat down next to me and buried his head in his lap. I can’t be sure what was going on in his head at that moment, but when he finally looked up at me I could see tears in his eyes and could tell he was equally sad at the thought of saying goodbye. He sat with me for the rest of the period as students turned in their exams and we talked about everything from nutritional facts to American Indians. It’s these kinds of moments that make me love what I do. It’s the one-on-one conversations about the strangest topics that really show you who your students are and how they think and what they like. I cherish these moments. And I cherish my Grade 12s. And I know they’re all off to do great things.

Summer Break

As expected, summer break will be beginning next week! I will be off adventuring through Thailand and Singapore and then will be heading to Myanmar and Vietnam for a few weeks to teach with Scott and Kendall. That being said, I probably will not have a chance to update my blog for awhile, but please don’t hesitate to reach out and say hey! I’m excited to use this time to recharge and also to find out what teaching is like in Vietnam and Myanmar compared to what I have grown accustomed to here in Thailand.

Wish me luck and see you next school year!

Snapshots from graduation's festivities: