Oxymorons- and A Heartwarming ‘Cool’ Story

"Good grief!"

The false fact is oxymorons are humans not intellectually enlightened. The accurate rumour, however, is oxymorons are words which usually mean the opposite although they are used together.

I have been terribly fascinated and awfully amazed by oxymorons! The controlled enthusiasm and silent scream in my heart are urging me to devour them in this article about my pupils.

My beloved pupils undeniably top my list of those threatening to provide gentle turbulences that upset the stability of a laid-back person like me. They appreciate my hopeless humour and cheerful cynicism, providing much laughter and serious fun in the classroom!

It is a slight exaggeration to say that through them, I’ve also experienced a mildly tremendous growth as a person. They help me become a more positive pessimist on some days, though on other days a more mournful optimist!

They teach me the precious lesson of letting go. Those whom I reprimand, nag at and punish the most often are the also the ones who forgive the most quickly. They are also quick to appreciate the tough care and concern. On Teachers’ Day, they are the ones who planned a ‘collapsed’ cake which crashed to the ground while they transported it on a trolley, two gold fish to ‘calm me down’, (what clear irony!) and many chocolates surrounding a huge card that read ‘Happy Teachers’ Day’. My heart melted solidly.

I learn to let go of stressful calm and accept organized chaos. So what if I could not complete my carefully crafted lesson plans for that day? So what if I could not go according to my planned tasks? I got to interact with my pupils, improve rapport with them, get to know them and enjoy many teachable moments with them!

Together, we have succeeded in making a once-highly-stressed girl laugh heartily and participate actively in class. When she first came to P5, she was confronted with the rude shock of the avalanche of school work. Buried underneath it, she used to come to school and hide herself in the toilet, weeping uncontrollably. It worsened at one point when she started pinching herself to inflict pain in order to cope with her stress.

3 angelic girls (not an oxymoron here) immediately sprang to the rescue. They would accompany her before school every morning to cheer her up, eat with her during recess, and walk with her after school to her school bus. One sensitive boy (also not an oxymoron here) wrote in his journal to unashamedly apologize for once thinking that this girl was causing me a lot of undue stress with her ‘papaya’ face everyday. He weakly resolved to try and cheer her up after knowing the immense stress she was facing. My very dear autistic boy offered to ‘investigate’ the cause of her stress so he could ‘get to the bottom of the case’ and help her overcome it. Her group members cracked jokes – funny and not-so-funny ones – which tickled her to no end.

Today, she plays ‘Captain’s Ball’ with a smile on her face, contributes to group discussion, and manages her school work pretty well. I’ll unmistakably miss my pupils.



By Ms Tan Lay Leng (Tanjong Katong Primary)