I read Ti Ti’s recent posting, I Love Education in College Days. In response to reading her essay, I want to put all my cards on the table and face up. I first met Ti Ti over a decade ago. At the time, she was nine years old. Her mother was my tour guide and had to pick up my itinerary after I left the area around Inle Lake. She mentioned I could meet her daughter, who was home on winter break.

Ti Ti greeted me and asked if I wanted to play Scrabble with her. I was amazed by her intellect. She spoke fluent American English and had a vast vocabulary. Ti Ti was a gifted young lady. And to be honest, she beat me at Scrabble.

I left their home, realizing that I had met my granddaughter. I returned twice to visit Ti Ti and the rest of my family. I love my family and will do whatever I can to assist them as they journey down their yellow brick roads.

This is a decade later at Gusto University in Yangon. She also took classes at Gusto online due to COVID. She took an online class I taught in the States a year ago. That was the last class that I taught before retiring. She aced the class. If you wish to read other essays that Ti Ti has written, go to College Days. Her first two postings last December were about the class she took from me online.

In Ti Ti’s posting, she talked about “the whirlwind of classes and campus life here at GUSTO.” I was delighted to read about her high activity level. Ti Ti added, “I’m pleased to report a significant improvement compared to online learning. The campus environment has truly made a positive impact on my academic performance, and I’m relishing the opportunities for hands-on learning and collaboration.”

This is an example of hands-on learning.

Additionally, Ti Ti included her grades for this semester at Gusto. As a retired college professor and Ti Ti’s grandfather, I wanted to see her grades. Gusto partnered with the University of Gloucestershire in the UK. Now, I need to ask Ti Ti why Gusto uses caps for its name. Also, I couldn’t find grades like A, B, C, etc. Apparently, Distinction is an A at Gusto. Regardless, Ti Ti has impressed her professors.

However, Ti Ti and I have had only one disagreement. I wrote an essay about a poem by Bobby Burns in which he said, “Oh the gift that God could give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”

It addressed how many people judge themselves. Ti Ti was going to a private college preparatory high school. She emailed me about how she was doing academically. I seized the moment and asked her a simple question. Using the grading standard of teachers: 70-79% C, 80-89% B, and 90-100% A, I asked Ti Ti to grade herself. Ti Ti responded quickly and said 80%.

I realized that Ti Ti and I shared a similar academic background. She lives in a nice middle-class community and school system like mine in Pennsauken, NJ. However, to get into college, we both needed to change the schools that we attended. I went to Mt. Lebanon, and Ti Ti went to a school in Taunggyi. Both schools were exclusively college preparatory schools. So, we both started in regular schools and then went to excellent ones, which caused us to feel that we might not be as good academically as we wished.

At one level, this article is just a true story about my granddaughter and myself. It is a cute way of reminding Ti Ti never to sell herself short educationally. She processes talents beyond her imagination. I just wanted to remind Ti Ti of her grandfather’s loving way.

Equally important is that this essay is a metaphor for all of us. Whether in education or any other part of our lives, we all sell ourselves short. Bobby Burns said, poetically, the same thing when he wrote, “Oh the gift that God could give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”