Tomorrow is Teachers’ Day celebration in Singapore. Predictably, I would receive some notes of appreciation and small gifts (I love red pens).

What is not so predictable is the students who chose to write a message for me this year. It is not an exaggeration for me to say that I think I will have better luck squeezing water out of rocks than collecting homework from them. A particular boy doesn’t even bother to learn his weekly spelling. Yet he took the time to copy something from ChatGPT. Ironically, it was riddled with errors. He also wrote a shorter note that was all him. Heartbreakingly amateurish that warmed and broke my heart at the same time.

Another girl also designed her card in the form of a shirt and left a red pocket in its pocket. Ingenious. I didn’t even know she could be this creative.

I’m not sure if all this is enough to compensate for the shitty attitudes I have endured recently, but I feel seen