{"id":5132,"date":"2021-01-26T03:19:55","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T03:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/the-fellowship-are-the-challenges-worth-it\/"},"modified":"2021-01-26T03:19:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T03:19:55","slug":"the-fellowship-are-the-challenges-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/the-fellowship-are-the-challenges-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fellowship: Are the challenges worth it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI wanted to leave my career as a journalist in the New Straits Times to dive head first into becoming a Fellow. I wanted to give up the job – despite loving and thriving at it – because I knew I wanted to make a change in the education system in Malaysia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But a year out from planning to do that, I was still there: never having stepped foot in a classroom, never having gotten to know a single student, never having made any sort of change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I had failed the physical component of the UKCG – a test set out by the Ministry of Education needed to become a teacher – so I had never even gotten to start on my Fellowship journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I had to wait another year to try again and I couldn\u2019t help but feel a little demotivated. (Should I even leave all that I have behind? Will all this be worth it? What if I fail again?) But deep down I knew that I still wanted to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew – after reading, seeing and experiencing the real-life change that TFM Fellows brought – that being a part of this was important to me. I knew that having the opportunity to empower the younger generation – inspiring them to dream big and build the nation – was something that was invaluable. I knew that creating a space where students could feel safe to fail and learn made all the difference in their schooling lives and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I decided to persevere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I trained and fought the battlefield in my mind, building grit and a support system along the way: with my peers, forming a loving sense of camaraderie- pushing and motivating me; TFM employees, regularly checking up on me, easing any apprehensions; and my family, showering me with affirmations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was months of pushing through before I finally managed to pass the test and months more before being placed as a teacher in a school. But after a year-long deferral, I had made it.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are moments when I catch myself wondering if all that persistence I put in was worth it. A year of my life spent challenge after challenge, only to be faced with more challenges, navigating <\/span>the challenges of <\/span>leading a classroom. But now, after <\/span>experiencing what it means to be <\/span>a Fellow first-hand, I know for a fact that it was worth it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was right to have been so sure about joining this movement and I was right about Fellows truly making an impact. So all those hours of trying and struggling- they were tough- but they were also <\/span>definitely <\/span>more than worth it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Beatrice Nita Jay is a Fellow from the 2020 cohort. She persevered with the Fellowship because she knew that it was important to her in making a difference. Join our Fellows to impact the lives of students across Malaysia too. Apply now at teachformalaysia.org\/apply<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI wanted to leave my career as a journalist in the New Straits Times to dive head first into becoming a Fellow. I wanted to give up the job –…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,145,147,113,115],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fellow","8":"category-fellowship-journey","9":"category-leadership-character-development","10":"category-movement","11":"category-themes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachformalaysia.org\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}