Best Middle Schooler Ever

By the time they get to middle school, Korean students seem to have had the life sucked out of them. Elementary school kids are often bright and lively. They are excited about English and enjoy talking in class. Even when they are misbehaving, at least they are active. In contrast, getting a middle school student to even say his or her name is a baffling ordeal. Homework completion and test scores plummet. Participation in the school website ceases entirely. As an icebreaker for new classes, I ask the students to tell me something interesting about them, with a prize going to the student with the best answer. Middle school students often respond that there is nothing interesting about them.

(Oddly enough, these students are always glued to their mobile phones. I have no idea how they can have that much to say and text to each other when they refuse to speak in class and can't share a single interesting aspect of their personality.)

Today was an exception. A new middle school girl walked into my classroom and promptly introduced herself in excellent English. She complimented me on me ability to write her name in Hangul, and then confessed that she was worried that the class would be difficult. I assured her that if her English was anything to go by, she would be well up to the task. I was looking forward to having a bright spark in what is usually an unbearable dirge of a class.

Unfortunately, she was in the wrong room.