Smile, nod nod.

When I was a freshman, I always see BJM students with active personality and their fancy clothes under the Journalism building. But the junior students are hardly found, if I met one, they will dress in uniform, look zombie-like and complaining about how the works are piling over their head. I never knew what had transformed them, until the day I enrolled for JM310 class.


I never heard about the infamous teacher of JM310 class before. Until the panic attack has hit me by the JM310 beginners in the Line chat application.


"What time are you guys going to class tomorrow?" , "What shirt are you planning to put on?" And more random questions.


They all were paranoid about tomorrow’s morning class. Unfortunately, I was in Australia and couldn't make it to the first week of the semester. As the semester slowly crept upon us, numbers of homework were assigned on the first day. I remembered that it was a week of a nightmare in Australia because I had homework from Thammasat University, Melbourne Academic School, fashion styling class and an evening work shift.


On the next Monday, I arrived at the class at 8.50 which by my clock is considered early. The moment I stepped into the class, I saw the professor Bruce Asavadon, and I was awed because the whole class was filled by the BJM junior students. The only time that I’ve ever see everyone attend class was the first week of our freshmen year; wearing the proper uniform, looking as innocent as ever and taking notes of every word that came out of the professor.


"No perfume, no late, and dress formally."


The whole class was going so fast that I could rarely follow. The presentation was going quicker than the flash.


One student entered the room.


“You are late, you will be marked as absent and will not get the point from your quiz" then he nodded and smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile. It was a smile of pleasure to see the dumbstruck and unsettling look on the students. The class went on, the lesson got intense, I then expected nothing from this class but his cruelty.


However, each week, not only my foolish skill of writing gets better but I can see something that other teachers wouldn’t usually do. He added a controversial and sensitive issue to the class, LGBT, and make us critically analyze it. It really opened my eyes and changed my perspective. A person would do anything to fix the social problems through media usage and improve people's way of life.


I then realized that I was wrong. I was paying attention to the wrong point, the same way as I see his smile in the wrong interpretation.


My tough-love teacher from elementary school used to say that "I don't expect my students to be a genius, famous or rich. All I want from them is to understand what I am trying to teach. And most importantly, they will not embarrass my teaching skill to their future teacher or employer." and instantly, I felt the same feelings towards her that I do to Mr. Bruce. One of those memories and lessons that stick vividly in your mind, even after the years go by.


The end of the class is nearly here. And each week I still see his nod and smile.


“So we will have a little party, you can cook and share it with you friends,” said Mr. Bruce. He nodded and smiled. It is the exact same smile as the first day I saw, still an unfriendly smile, but this time something changed, what was present through his eyes was the sincerity and integrity of wanting his students to be decent human beings.


He is not the ‘Cruella de Vil’ I imagined him to be. He is just a human who has his own approach of teaching and implementation of rules.


Besides that memorable smile and nod of his, the large workload, the hours of classroom discipline and the austere manner of Mr. Bruce at first glance may seem like a student's worst nightmare. All the late nights of staying up and struggle to write and submit all the assignments on time. There is no doubt that practice makes perfect though. Studying journalism, it is possible to say that editorial and article writing is a core fundamental because as the media, you have the voice to convey and message and the choice to make something meaningful, but if you can’t write, then what do you voice do you even have at all? All the assignments pay off, all the mistakes have allowed me to make room for development.


If you read between the lines you’ll understand that Mr. Bruce doesn’t attempt to be your typical lecturer, he is more than that. He embodies his own teaching philosophy, a memorable one I must say. He is a teacher. I’ve learned that everyone can have the knowledge, everyone can be good at something, but not everyone can teach. The word teacher is defined as, “a person who teaches.” Therefore, to teach in this sense could be to teach academically or anything really, but he taught us one of the most important lessons, the lesson of how to provide us with the skills to help us achieve our goals, opening our eyes to societal issues and realizing that there is so much happening around us, therefore we must take on our responsibility as a global citizen.  As I once heard somewhere that teaching creates all other professions, I now truly understand this.