Today, after the release of student’s performance in the final exam, a student wrote me a “Thank You” message. Below is her message and my reply.
----- “Thank You” message from Miss K -----
Dear Dr. Wong,
I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to express my sincerest gratitude for all the help and support you have given me throughout the entire semester. Your dedication and willingness to spend extra time with me in the evenings when I was struggling with the course material was truly invaluable, especially given how busy you are.
When I retook this course in the beginning of the semester, I truly thought that I didn't have the capabilities of passing it since I've been failing it three times already. But your continuous guidance and support have made me realize that I should take this failure as an opportunity to be better and to learn from my mistakes. Through this process, I have become a better learner and I am confident that I will be able to pass this course with flying colours.
I am still in disbelief that I actually passed the course, after struggling for so long. I can't thank you enough for your patience, persistence, and encouragement. Your unwavering support and guidance were incredibly important to me, and I don't think I would have made it without your help.
Your willingness to spend extra time with me, even though you have many other demands on your time, is a testament to your dedication and commitment to your students' success. Your support and guidance helped me to understand the course material and gave me the confidence to believe in myself and my abilities. I am truly grateful for everything you have done for me.
When I first started this course, I truly thought that I didn't have the capabilities of passing it and that I was just not smart enough since I've been failing it three times already. But your continuous guidance and support have made me realize that I should take this failure as an opportunity to be better and to learn from my mistakes. Through this process, I have become a better learner and I am confident that I will be able to pass this course with flying colors.
I want to thank you again for your time, your energy, and your dedication to my success. Having you as my professor has been a truly enriching experience, and I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from you. I hope that I can continue to learn from you and work with you in the future.
Once again, thank you for everything.
Regards,
Miss K.
------ My reply -----
Dear Miss K,
I did help for sure, but the key was you. You were willing to reach out for help, not just for one day, but persistently throughout the semester. And, you did put in a fair amount of effort. I hope that most of my students would be willing to do the same. If they are willing to learn and reach out for help, I would be just so happy to meet and help all of them through personal coaching sessions day and night. While we cannot go back in time, I feel that you might have passed the course in your first take if you had adopted the learning attitude you used in this semester.
Now, take a break, sit back and reflect on how and what you did to overcome the difficulty. When you encounter similar difficult obstacles in your future career and life, remember this moment, remember this semester and remember how you made through it, and then adopt similar attitude and strategy. As I said in one of our meetings, the failure experience can be an asset. The lesson of handling such failure experience helps us to become more resilient.
Yes, you should give yourself a “big like” on your achievement! Time to celebrate!
Sincerely,
Ka-fu
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