A letter to future Peter (2026-11-26)
Dear Future Peter,
I have just stopped working as a Mandarin tutor and I am going to start a new job. I will be teaching kids from now on. How are things? I hope you are doing fine.
Chai Jing wrote in her biography that in journalism, she cares about the people. (我关心新闻中的人。)
I guess you can say the same thing about me. Teaching and education is also about people: what people learn and teach, how people learn and teach, and most importantly why people learn and teach. It's about students, parents, teachers, and many others that make education happen in the first place. I am sure you would have quite a different understanding about education in the future. Technology must have changed quite a bit. So must have your teaching skills and methodology. I hope you still have a learning mindset with you.
Are you still teaching? I hope so. Wherever you are, remember to be kind to yourself and others around you. Even if you no longer work in education, you will still be making an impact in this way, because education is indeed what happens between people, whether intentionally or not.
Peter