HELLO MRS TAN!!
Hahahah im not sure when you will read this, but rest assured that no matter how long later from the day im writing this that you read this, my (and the rest of the 11 of our) feelings haven't changed :D
Thank you for being one of the most amazing teachers I have ever had in my soon to be decade of school life. You share the top position with the rest of your friends (you called them friends when i said they were your colleagues) mdm may lee mr yap mrs soh etc :D Im not sure whether you know this but you influenced your students more than you ever knew you did. We can tell your passion in teaching when you talk to your students, and you constantly bring joy and laughter to your class unknowingly. With you as a teacher, you lift everybody's mood and I have always, always had fun in your class.
I never knew how to appreciate you in Primary 6, when you were still teaching us, because all my years in Nan Hua, my teachers were as dedicated and passionate as you were. It wasn't till secondary school that I realised not all teachers were going to be like you, and as weird as it sounds, I realise that I appreciated you more when I entered secondary school than I did when I was still P6. I love how you are so bubbly and cute (HAHAHA) and you can crack lame jokes with us, and also how you are just like a friend to all of us. We always looked forward to going to your house since P6, and even though that took almost 2 years to happen, all of us were so happy that you remembered and prepared so much food for us!! Thank you so much for all the love you have shown to all of us, for going far beyond what a teacher does, and finally for being a friend to all of us.
When Mrs Soh and you told us that you were leaving Nanhua at the Asian Civilisation Museum, as much as I knew it was a great thing for you, I (and the rest who were there) were very sad as well. I was sad because the next time I go back to Nanhua, I know there will no longer be a cute Mrs Tan sitting in the HOD office, or someone like you wearing her tag to welcome us. But I realised now that as much as we cannot bear for you to leave, I am truly happy for you as you have entered a new stage in your life.
I have so many feelings towards you that I don't know how to express into words. I am so very thankful that you are my teacher, and I cannot express just how much all of us adore you. I cannot put a reason to why you are so special to me, as a teacher and as a friend, because this is a feeling I cannot express through words. However, it can be expressed through the smiles and laughter when I am around you, or the way my heart warms when I see photos of us together. I guess at the end of all these words, I am just beyond grateful that you are my teacher. I never stopped seeing you as my teacher, even though I graduated from Nanhua in 2012, and I don't think I ever will, because you have given me and all your students way too much to remember, and way too much for us to ever be able to give back to you.
If someone asks me who one of the greatest teachers in my life is, it will be you. Though you are taking on a new role as vice principal in your new school, I believe you will continue to spread love and warmth to all the people around you, children and adult alike. I know you will be an amazing vice principal, and a wonderful new friend to everyone you meet. I'm sure you will be able to bring the huge inspiration you are to a new school, and touch the lives of many people just as you did with mine. No matter where you go, you will always, always have people who remember and are grateful for you, and I am confident that Clementi Primary School would soon be a school filled with love, just like Nan Hua, with a vice principal who was once a teacher that showered her students with all her love, and a vice principal who will always be the most amazing teacher her students will remember.
This is getting way too long so I am going to end this here, we will definitely miss you Mrs Tan! However, your presence will be felt whenever I meet a teacher as genuine and caring as you are, or whenever I see a great teacher whos blur at the same time. Many things about you we see in other people will continue reminding us of you, and rest assured that when we do remember you, all that's in our minds are happy moments filled with laughter, joy and love. And finally, for the last time in this lonnngggg note (though I cannot say this enough), thank you so much for everything.
With hugeee amounts of love, (and a bit of sadness because you are leaving)
Yi Lin <3