Early Years
I was born in Southern China. My mother was a teacher. I guess it was her influence that made me want to be a teacher when I grew up. So, I applied for teacher’s college when graduating from high school, but my mother changed my direction, and I studied medicine at university instead. Later, I worked in a teaching hospital, which was attached to a Medical College, as an anaesthetist.
Coming to Australia
I came to join my husband in Australia. Since I have always been interested in education and intrigued about the differences between Eastern and Western Education systems, I started volunteering at my sons’ schools. Later I worked as a tutor at Epic Assist.
Road to Seminars
All three of my boys excelled academically. Due to their success, the parents of their classmates would often ask me, ‘What do you do to make your boys succeed?’ They tried to discover where my boys went for tuition or what study materials they were using. I had to explain that they didn’t go to tuition, nor did they do any extra work besides school work.
The parents then assumed that I must have been teaching them at home myself and began asking me to tutor their children. I refused, even though I had always enjoyed teaching, because I knew that it was not that simple and I didn’t want the pressure.
One day when I was wearing my work uniform to pick up my boys from school, the other parents noticed. Again they started pushing me to tutor their kids, saying, ‘You are a tutor! Why not teach our children?! Don’t be stressed! We won’t expect our kids to be as good as your boys at studying!’ And so, I began my private tuition.
Most of my students’ parents are immigrants from China. I have found that these parents are not familiar with the education system here, and that they are often confused and anxious about their children’s study. I end up spending a lot of time informing parents about the Australian education system and providing counselling for parenting skills.
When our church embarked on fundraising activities for our new building, I thought, why not provide seminars to meet the needs of parents and raise money at the same time? Wouldn’t that be a win-win for all?
My first seminar was planned for April 2019, however, the seminars were suspended due to the pandemic. Since the lifting of lockdown restrictions, I have conducted twenty-four seminars and have had almost six hundred attendees.
The seminars have covered a range of topics for the parents to help their children –
One of the seminars, the ATAR Overview, was recorded and made into a public video, which attracted more than four hundred viewers.
Most recently, I invited parents and their high school children to attend a Study Skills seminar. This time it was presented by three young adults from our church, who had all graduated from high school with the highest possible score. On that day, we welcomed one hundred and thirty-three people into our church building.
As the young adults shared throughout the morning, parents perceived the young adults’ positive views about every aspect of their lives – past, present and future. The parents felt strongly that they wanted their children to develop in the same way as these young Christian men and women. They saw with their own eyes what Godly young adults are like. Quite a few of them began sending their children to our church, or even better, they themselves came along! Praise God!
According to our Pastor, it was one of the biggest community events ever held at this church. The community’s feedback for the seminar was overwhelmingly positive.
I am very thankful to God for leading me step by step towards sharing what I have learnt with other parents, through these seminars.
Liang
The Ladies Loop 