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This time of the year has always been a bit of a bittersweet one... the end of a Northern hemisphere academic year means that I have students that are finishing up with their final exams of secondary school and are embarking upon the rest of their lives... heading out to university, joining the workforce, or just taking a year off to discover themselves and the world.

Over my many years of teaching students privately, I've seen all of them progress so much whilst guiding them... most of them have done spectacularly well, and I've been so proud of them. It is a weird feeling to be so proud of other people's children... but as a teacher, that is what we do. We take custodianship of other people's children, to guide their learning and development... in fact, the children spend most of their time under the care and guidance of people who aren't their parents... something that seems to be forgotten too easily.

I have many students that started with me from a young age, near the beginning of their secondary school... some struggling, some excelling already... and they stay with me for years. I see them grow from young pre-teens, through the awkward teenage years... and then out the other end as young adults. It is really quite a weird experience, as so much changes in them through these times... I do find that there are some post-summer holiday lessons where I won't even recognise the students that have grown up in the months since I last saw them!

Of particular note are those families who have had multiple children entrusted to my care... so that I've had a relationship with their family over the better part of a decade. I'm always curious to see and hear how their older siblings have found their path through life. There aren't that many that end up pursing pure Mathematics/Physics... but I feel like that the lessons, skills, and outlook that they have learnt through those times has stood them in good stead throughout life.

After giving a last lesson... especially to those who have had long family relationships through my teaching... well, it is really quite weird. I feel quite emotional... but I know that I shouldn't really show it too much, as the students are probably awkward enough about it already. Some present me with lovely presents, and I urge all of them to let me know what they end up doing...

Sometimes, I end up meeting some of them randomly (although, now that I live on the opposite side of the planet to most of them, that is going to be less likely!).

I guess in some ways, it is the pride in the students... that similar pride that a parent feels for a child... that you have equipped them the best that you can, and they are now ready to fly off on their own direction. Except, you are ending the relationship... the parent will always be there... the tutor/teacher... well, that relationship rarely carries on longer. And perhaps it shouldn't really... I"m sure that the students will forget me in the years ahead... although some still drop me a little message every now and then. For the teacher (and the parent), it is hard to shake the memories of the evolving and growing child... we remember, and just step back and look on with quiet pride.

This week, I bid farewell to several of my longest taught students... and a couple of long term families... they followed me online, even though I moved overseas and so far away. I guess they will never really know how much that meant to me as a teacher, that they trusted me so. Even as I write this, I feel a sort of sadness that I will never again be in their lives... guiding and helping shape their understanding and beliefs. Often the students would venture in topics and philosophy (with my encouragement!) far beyond physics and mathematics... I would share some of my understandings of the world and the universe, and hope that some of that would colour their understanding as they navigate through society and existence.

A teacher/tutor is so much more than a guide through knowledge... especially in these older years of transition between child to adult, sometimes you are called upon to help make sense of the world, and to provide a different opinion and perspective to what the parents provide. Nothing too controversial (mostly...), but coming at it from a different experience and background. Many of my students came from quite well-off families... and so, I hope that I was able to provide them with a counter-narrative that contrasts with their small and insulated world. A little seed that might later inform them better...

I can also be found cross-posting at:
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