Tens of Thousands of Students

Since arriving in Korea in December 1990, I’ve taught tens of thousands of students—young and old, office workers and university students, soldiers, singers, businessmen, and people simply hoping to open a small door to the wider world through English.

For example, standing next to me on my right in this photo taken in 1992, is the Korean singer Ha Choon Hwa (하춘화). 

At the time, she was already well known, yet in the classroom, she was simply another student, working through vocabulary and conversation like everyone else. That was always one of the quiet pleasures of teaching here: the classroom erased titles. For an hour or two, everyone was just a learner.

From time to time, I have wondered what became of my students. Where did life take them?

Some must have become doctors, engineers, teachers, or entrepreneurs. Some probably moved abroad. Some may have forgotten English entirely. 

I like to think that in some small way, I was part of their journeys.

Perhaps a little confidence gained in a classroom. Perhaps a curiosity about the world beyond Korea. Perhaps simply the memory that learning something new was possible. 

A teacher rarely knows the final chapter of a student’s life.

But sometimes it’s enough to know you were there for one page of the story.