Author: Dr Monika (HOD Occupational Therapy and Joint Head Administration, NRF) | 27th December, 2025
Today, was special. I taught a student of Occupational Therapy. It was special in many ways because after years I did something that I thought I would always do, every day for the rest of my life.
So, why did it not happen. Life had other plans for me and I followed my destiny without questioning the journey grateful for all the experiences and the people who became a part of my life in the process.
Pretending to be a teacher was probably one of the earliest memories I have growing up. I remember very clearly, on how routine playtime would involve rounding up my parents, brother, his and my friends to play teacher-teacher. From roll call, to taking classes using chalk on the cupboard like a blackboard, making question papers and correcting the answer sheets (I was always strict in giving marks, no free doles!) with the inevitable red pen. My mother always commented on the intensity she would see on my face or feel in the tone of my voice, while I took classes in my role as a teacher, even as a 5-year-old.
Teaching for me has always been a serious matter and not a child’s play. Even the friendly classes I took for my school friends on the telephone when they had a doubt, were done with preparation and care. I would study before to teach.
A life in academia was my dream; it gave me a high the first time, each time after, and years later continues to stimulate me as it did when I was a 5-year-old. As an Occupational Therapy student, my childhood dream grew wings. I soon realized that teaching was my calling. It gave me clarity of purpose. I did not just teach graduate and postgraduate students for 5 years, I also learnt along with them.
If today, I still believe that students are the force behind change, it is because they are. It is heartening and humbling to see many of my students in positions of authority making a difference. It only strengthens my resolve (and many teachers like me) who share the same passion to continue guiding, mentoring, motivating and encouraging anyone with a thirst for acquiring knowledge and has the drive to make a difference through knowledge-sharing.
Coming back to the present, it took me down memory lane to those years when I was a ‘real’ teacher. However, on introspection I also realized that teaching in our profession was not limited to Occupational Therapy students alone; but in all the roles we take on as a professional. Whether it be teaching our patients, guiding their caretakers/ parents or even generating awareness through talks and discussions with members of the community that one meets in everyday life. Being an Occupational Therapist has become synonymous with teaching for me. By default, I acquired and retained all traits of being a teacher just by being an OT ; and probably that’s what has kept me going for all these years without actually being in active academia. My AHA moment ! It all makes sense now!!
ONCE A TEACHER, ALWAYS A TEACHER