(Minghui.org) I am a 54-year-old teacher at an elementary school in a village. I plan to retire next year. I participated in the Citywide Teaching Grand Prix held in November 2017 and was awarded first place. I clearly understand that the win resulted from my practicing Falun Dafa.
When the City Education Bureau announced the grand prize and the awards for the contest winners in September, I somewhat thought about it. But I immediately calmed down and looked at it from the Fa’s perspective.
I had already won first prize in a teaching and research creativity assessment held in our town in 2016. I was also awarded the “vice-high” level, the highest elementary school teacher ranking. Why should I get involved? Thus, I decided to pass on this opportunity in favor of other teachers.
Master said,
“We simply treat the issue of personal, vested interests with indifference, while in other areas we are very wise. In terms of conducting scientific research projects or carrying out assignments from our supervisors or other duties, we are very clear-minded and perform them very well.“ (Zhuan Falun)
I always follow the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and accept any assignment without complaint. Therefore, when two school leaders suggested to our principal that I should participate in this contest to bring honor to our school, I did not quibble and agreed to participate in the school's preliminary competition. But I decided not to take the city's primary.
I shared the first place with a young teacher in the school preliminary. The school leaders disagreed when I told them that I would not participate in the city competition. The school leaders again talked me into participating in the contest.
The format of the contest was “same content, different arrangements.” This approach requires coming up with different styles, methods, and strategies to teach the same content. I browsed the education network to learn how the past winners designed their content, but I did not learn anything because all the winning materials were heavily tinged with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture.
I have taught for many years but had never entered a competition that required such a wide range of teaching materials. I repeatedly looked inward and asked myself if this happened by accident or if it was arranged by Master. If Master arranged this opportunity for me to compete, then why?
Master said,
“That’s notably so for some veteran Dafa disciples. Has it occurred to you that everything in your daily life is part of cultivation? Your every word and action, and everything you do—all of it is part of your cultivation. Do you realize that?” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
Master's Fa hinted that this issue had to do with my cultivation, so I told myself, “Do not chase after fame. Diligently validate Dafa. I will integrate into the teaching content my teaching concepts.”
I passed the city's primary with high marks from the judging panel. The content for the final competition was about a little boy who had saved small animals.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has been widely accepted because its performances align with Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Inspired by Shen Yun, I took “Compassion” as the main theme to show that every animal, regardless of its size, deserves our love.
Although winning awards is tempting, not everyone is willing to participate. In addition to fearing weaknesses, loss of self-confidence, and fear of losing the competition, the preparation and presentation processes are very exhausting and time-consuming.
Six teachers made it to the final. Everyone, except me, reported they'd lost weight preparing for the competition. With the Fa in my heart, I did not chase after fame and gain. I took it easy and won the contest with minimal effort. More importantly, I did not miss teaching my class because of the competition.
Every fall in the village, I get a lot of corn stalks for fuel and spend many hours bundling and baling them. Because I'd been wrapping corn stalks, taking care of my ill husband, and teaching, I had no time to prepare the teaching materials for the competition. However, everything went through well in the preliminary, primary, and final rounds.
This circumstance would generally be too hard for an older teacher, such as myself, to handle. However, I not only made it through, I ended up with the first prize! I did well because I am a practitioner and Falun Dafa is extraordinary.
(Submission to “Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day” 2018 on the Minghui website)