My Expressions

On the last day of the last round of Teach For India’s 2018 cohort registrations, I decided to leave Australia, move back to Mumbai and become a part of this movement. I could not wait to begin inspiring the minds of young people and bring change to the education system I strongly believed was doing no good until I was placed in grade 3 in a first-year intervention classroom with 56 highly energetic 10 years olds.

Persistent to not give up, I told myself, “It only gets better now” until I realised all of my kids could barely recognise alphabets in grade 3, let alone read. Persistent to not give up, I told myself, “It only gets better now” until my co-Fellow was transferred to another school and I had to take up all the subjects to teach my class all by myself. Persistent to not give up, I told myself, “It only gets better now”. At the end of my Fellowship, as I look back on my journey, I realise that challenges kept arising. But I survived. And it did get better.
So here’s my advice on “How to survive the Fellowship”
Surround yourself with the most beautiful kids who will never give up on you irrespective of the number of times, you feel inadequate to teach them.

Be ready to be amazed by the resilience your kids show at their age. Their understanding of love, loyalty and respect might be different from yours, but they teach you how to smile through the toughest of days and love with every bit of your heart.
If you don’t think you are the most intelligent and beautiful human in the world, get ready because your kids will validate you like no one else. They notice everything you do and cannot wait to be like you (which is a lot of pressure) but also helps you become the best version of yourself.
You may not get enough sleep or have a social life but every time a kid says “Excuse me, please” instead of pushing past, shares their tiffin with another kid without food, willingly does their homework, and stands up for their friends instead of complaining – it’ll feel worth it. – Gargi Goswami, Fellow

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