Letter to Self.

Rajeendra Lucky

The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

School of Education

Postgraduate Diploma in Education, 2017-2018

EDFA 5500: Educational Foundations and Issues in Education

August 25th, 2017

Rajeendra Lucky

#21 Dinsley Court,

Tacarigua,

Trinidad.

17th August, 2017

Dear Rajeendra,

I just want to take this opportunity to let you know a little about myself and my journey
towards becoming a teacher. School life for me started out in a rural Milton Village Couva. My
support at home was not very strong but I was very fortunate to have very good teachers who
were exceptional role models and provided much needed support and guidance, encouraging me
to apply myself to my studies.

I recall with much gratitude, my form 1 mathematics teacher at Couva Government

Secondary School who had a disability in one arm. Despite this, he was always upbeat and
creative, trying his best to ensure that we learnt the concepts he was trying to teach. He was very
patient and sometimes he would ask me about the challenges of my home life and the impact this
was having on my school work and my emotional development. This sort of dedication and
output of caring from him has made me want to emulate his teaching style and develop similar
relationships with my students that can eventually make a difference in their lives.

Another experience which helped me realize that I wanted to be a teacher, took place
while working at the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry (ECIAF), a tertiary
level teaching institution, where I worked as a Laboratory Technician for 13 years. Here, I was
given the opportunity to teach students how to use the different instruments in laboratory.
Having to work with students from a varied and mature age group, who came from both Trinidad
and Tobago the small islands in the Caribbean, helped me to appreciate different ethnicities and
cultures. I enjoyed their diverse accents, food and cultural practices and learnt a lot about their
countries in my interactions with them.

I hope that by taking this Diploma in Education, I would realize my full potential and
learn some techniques to improve my effectiveness as teacher in the classroom. I started teaching
only four years ago. I am an introvert and have always struggled to express myself to crowds and
large audiences. This is a constant struggle every day in my teaching career as I sometimes lack
confidence and am unable to effectively verbally communicate my thoughts and ideas in a clear
and concise manner. I would like to improve on this, as this would improve my effectiveness as a
teacher.

I believe it is very important to have good working professional relationships and to feel
a sense of belonging and loyalty to the school where I teach. I hope that this Diploma will help
me to become a better teacher, and create more fruitful relationships with my work colleagues
and improve me as a person in general.

Yours respectfully,

Rajeendra Lucky.

Rajeendra Lucky.