Free talk essay

During our English Camp “free talk” provides Chinese teachers the opportunity to read essays from NPR's "This I Believe" series, then write and talk (in English) about the topic presented.  Teachers are offered an opportunity to write an essay of their own.  This is an essay written by teacher Susan Lee.

I believe attitude makes me a better woman (Susan Lee)

        

  When I got married I was very happy. Life didn’t change at all. I ate at my mother’s home like I did before I got married. I looked on my new home as a hotel in which I spent the night.

  But two years later, after I gave birth to my son, Victor, things changed a lot. My mother-in-law came to “help” me, which meant, I thought, she would try her best to do everything for me. I imagined that I would be treated like a “queen”. Because my husband is the only son in his family, and I had a son, that means a lot for a Chinese family. It might mean even more to my parents-in-law. So I thought I “deserved” the treatment. However, things ended up far from what I expected. She seemed to try to keep away from taking care of my son as much as she could.

  I talked it over with my husband, Adam. He understood what I felt, yet he didn’t completely agree with me. As a filial son, it was impossible for him to talk about it with his mother. Seeing me being more and more depressed, Adam kept having small talks with me. Finally, he suggested me changing my attitude, saying that might help.

  I doubted it, but I thought I’d better try. I tried to take care of my son all by myself after work instead of hoping for help. I did the food shopping instead of depending on my mother-in-law. Through all this for a period of time, I began to know her philosophy. She believes that she could raise her three children well by herself and her husband, and there was no reason that my husband and I couldn’t do it even better with our only child.

  Thanks to her ‘toughness’ and Adam’s advice, I find I’m living my life happier and my once tense relationship with my mother-in-law is getting closer and closer. And this is I believe: Attitude makes me a better wife and a better daughter-in-law.

  Also, in the first few years of teaching, I had a hard time getting on with my students. I got mad at them when they were not obedient. I was frustrated when they didn’t do what they were supposed to do, and I was crazy when anything was out of control in my class.

  When I realized I was getting on better with my family, I began to ask myself why I was mad, frustrated and crazy at my students. Did I do anything wrong? No, I didn’t! So I decided to face all the challenges in a positive attitude. I told myself I would try my best to teach each student by all means, even if I don’t succeed, and that is OK. Now, I focus more on whether I have tried to make things better rather than whether my hard work has paid off. Now I have a very good relationship with my students. And this is I believe: Attitude makes me a better teacher.