Once a Teacher, Always A Teacher..

Last night's account:
I was just scrolling through social media and I stumbled upon a post which my ex-student put up. It read: Hate this feeling. Calm down calm down calm down. Just stay stupid, act stupid, do stupid. Arghhh. Fcuk! It's my fault. Instinctively I replied: What happened? So he pm(ed) me telling me that his dad left the family. Student R was distraught at the thought and would constantly think of the incident whenever he is alone. So, I encouraged him to hold on and stay focus on whatever he was doing and telling him to accept the truth and move on with life. Then slowly the conversation went on to ask me about my masters. It went like this:

R: Oya sir. When will u finish ur studies?
Me: Nov this year.
R: Wahhhh.
Me: Coming back 23 Nov
R: R u staying in Pahang, Sarawak or Sabah?
Me: Nt sure yet.
R: hahaha. How bout ur ahem sir?
Me: Complicated...
R: I see sir.
Me: Tough times ahead. Oh well... That's life...
R: hahaha. No wonder u still the same Mr J.
Me: Why?
R: Keep smiling, chilling, laughing even u r having ur hard time.There's still 2 assignments need to be done by tomorrow. hahaha
Me: That's all I can do. Why make the world suffer in your sufferings? Try to find joy in the joy of others... When you can make them smile and laugh, you would have made a difference. And u will be happier. All the best!!!
R: hahaha. Thanks again sir
...and the conversation went on...

Having to talk to him, having to hear him mention positive things about my character, made me wonder; who am I as a teacher?