When September Ends

Time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday I was starting a brand new chapter in my hometown, and now the first quarter of the academic year has already come to an end. September quietly closed its pages, leaving behind both memories and lessons that will stay with me.

Moving to a new school has been both exciting and humbling. Adjusting to a different environment, meeting new faces, and finding my rhythm as a teacher again have been part of the journey. Some days felt light and joyful, while others came with their own set of challenges. But that’s the beauty of beginnings — they remind us that growth often comes in the most unexpected ways.

In the end of July, a few weeks after I joined the school, there was this big event called "Family Gathering". This event is the opening celebration to celebrate the school's 30th anniversary. Woah... This awakens me that this school is pretty old, No wonder because this school is the first one established in the foundation. Years later, the other schools followed along to stand in other cities all over Indonesia. Surprisingly, our school invited 3 special guests. It was such a privilege to meet them and hear their stories and experience about how the school started their first days and how it now has gained many students who long to learn and grow their faith. They are an alumnae, the very first head of school, and the songwriter of the school march. For the rest of the day, the event was basically to gather all family members of the school, to strengthen the community and to have fun. There was food bazaar, health check, games, and even door prize. Unexpectedly, I won the door prize! Hahaha... I brought home the box and it's very useful for my mom.

Then in the mid of August, our school celebrated Indonesian Independence Day at school. We had flag salute in the morning, then followed by some games indoor and physical games of independence celebration, such as tarik tambang, balap karung, etc. I am thankful for this fun day where I spent all day with my students and see their energy and enthusiasm in the games. 

In the beginning of September, I joined a training that was specifically made for new teachers, especially the ones who haven't joined it before. This training is called BOTC which stands for "Boys-Brigade Officer Training Camp". This training was held in Puncak, Bogor. I was personally thankful for this opportunity because I could spend my long weekend to refresh my mind in the cold place near the mountain area. Yup, it was a long weekend on September 4-6. On the first night we stayed there, there was a really heavy rain and big thunderstorm that made the electricity at the resort go down. It took about 2 hours until we could get the lights and electricity on again and we could continue the activity. In the morning, we had drill activity where we were trained to do some basic rules of marching in Boys Brigade. Then, we had the closing ceremony on Sunday afternoon after we got the certification of the training completion. We took photos together and we left the resort at 2.20 pm.

In the mid of September, I did narrative report which contains my observation about my students in the first 3 months of this school year. The observation includes 4 main aspects, which are general strengths, areas of improvement, social and behavior development, and goals. After two times of revision, I finalized the document and printed it. Then, it's ready to be distributed to the parents on the PTC day. On September 25, PTC (Parents-Teacher Conference) was held. At this school, this meeting involves the parents and the teacher in the class to discuss about the student's learning progress in the first quarter. I am thankful for every input, opinion, and gratitude that the parents shared during the meeting. That would surely be helpful to encourage the students to keep growing in their learning.

One thing I’ve learned is to embrace the small wins. A smile from a student, a lesson that went well, or even just the feeling of slowly settling into a new routine. All of these have been little reminders that I am where I need to be.

As September ends, I carry with me gratitude and hope. The road ahead may still have its twists and turns, but I’m looking forward to what the next quarter will bring more stories, more lessons, and perhaps more reasons to smile.

Until next month!

LV, 270925