YX, a Sec 5/1 student whom i met from my attachment last year, messaged me out of the blue yesterday and asked whether macroeconomics is difficult. I am reminded fondly of the time when Junxiang called me up shortly after the release of the "O" level results, told me of his desire to study Aerospace Engineering and asked me whether he should sign on. Also, today i checked my email and found an email addressed to me and Mr Kwok (my mentor) by YX.

I shall be brutally honest here. A part of me finds YX clingy and needy and i tell myself to stay emotionally detached.

But to the teachers and would-be teachers patronising this site, isn't this precisely the reason why we all decide to become teachers? To be a presence in our charges' lives and help them to make informed decisions?

it's so enormously flattering and heartwarming that impressionable teenagers like me enough to ask me for my opinions when i know i'm such a flawed human being. And i'm motivated in my quest to become a better person.

Alex san, gambatte yo with your NT class!