I've been teaching at the university level for 18 years or so now. Before that, I even taught high school and elementary school kids for a while. Yes, it's not easy to be a teacher-professor. There are lots of challenges that you face. But looking back at this stage, I can say that I've always loved teaching. There are times when something really touching happens and you remember why you became a teacher. Sometime ago, a dear student of mine sent me a message which did that for me. It is particularly significant because I am not teaching this school year as I'm on my sabbatical. Despite that, being remembered and thanked for by a student really moved me. I keep and treasure these gratitude notes (I have a stash of them) because they are things to hold on to and be grateful for, especially in tough times. It's really a deep joy to know that you made a difference in the lives of your students. I CHERISH AND TREASURE THAT. I really hold dearly all my former students and wish them all the best.
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THE MESSAGE
Hello Professor Kato!
I hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during this crazy and unexpected time. I know this message may come to you by surprise; however, I just wanted to say hello and thank you for everything you have taught me the past years at kings.
No words can describe how much I missed not being in one of your classes in my final year but I want you to know that everything you have taught me has stuck to me and I can't believe how much I have been using all the knowledge you have passed on. From the structures you have provided on how to write good essays to methods of analysis (the three world analysis is absolutely genius and I do not know how I went without it years prior!). Although I am finishing this year in an odd manner and have found it extremely hard, its professors like you that absolutely inspire me to keep pushing forward and battle every hard battle to get to my dreams. Thank you for being you and all the work you put into your students and I wish for all your future students to maintain everything you have taught them and use it because I can say I am truly blessed and honoured to say I was in your classes at Kings. To this day I look back at them and just smile. To this day I remember you singing "What if God was one of us?" and to this day I think of fiddler on the roof when talking about tradition and the Gospel of Matthew. So thank you, thank you for the knowledge you passed down to me and thank you for being you. For caring about your students and wanting them to do well. From the bottom of my heart thank you!
I hope we will be able to see each other once my convocation is established due to it being postponed for now. I hope you are keeping safe and healthy and that you and your family are finding joy in the little things during this crazy time!
Thank you for everything, all the best, and God bless!
A grateful student
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My Response
Dear GS,
Thank you so very much for your kind words! You and other students who take the time to thank me in this explicit way remind me very touchingly why I chose to become a teacher many years ago and why I continue to love being so (except marking…!). But again, thanks so much. I just cherish and treasure your words and the sentiments behind them. Please do carry whatever you have learned from me and from your other wonderful professors and teachers (of all kinds!) with you as you continue your life journey. Believe me, you’ll need to draw from these powerful lessons, especially at crucial moments because your life is still practically in front of you.
I’ve been enjoying my sabbatical and been quite fruitful (despite the lockdown since last month). I’ve secured a book contract for what, I hope, would be my 3rd monograph-book. I’m trying to distill all the things I’ve taught my students in the past 15+ years of teaching New Testament into this projected book. So yes, 3 worlds … and so on and so forth… Wish me well. I hope I make the proposed submission by the end of this year. The work, I would say, is like 70% written in various forms…
I wish you well. Please give my regards and love to your wonderful family. Stay safe and healthy. My wife is a PSW at a nearby nursing home. Long-term healthcare homes NOW are the hotspots of the pandemic. So we are constantly keeping our fingers crossed that we stay healthy as we have until now. But even if she (and maybe we) get sick, there are still so many things that are hopeful in our society such as a not-yet-overwhelmed healthcare system and family and friends to support us. There’s always hope to hold on to. There I am again, the hopelessly hopeful optimist. I hope you got that one too from being in my classes …
Have a blessed and healthy Easter season and I hope to see you and your friends sooner than later. If I can help you in any way now or in the future, I will gladly do that for you. It’s an immense joy to do that, especially for my best students!
Good luck and God bless,
jkk
