Umer Sohail | Teachers In the Spotlight

 1  Where are you from? And where did you grow up?

I am from Pakistan. I grew up in a city of Karachi.

 2  Can you tell us about your educational background?

I have been teaching since I was in high school myself. I came to China to do my medical degree. When you are a student in China, the easiest job you can find is teaching part-time English. I did that. When I finished my degree, I discovered that I did not really enjoy being in the hospital. But I did enjoy learning about the human body.  I had caught the science bug by that stage. After the internship, I got an offer from an international high school and taught biology and chemistry over there for two years. Then I moved to Suzhou where I have lived for the last three years.

 3  How did you learn such fluent Chinese?

People often ask me how I learned my Chinese. But the thing is, I do not really know it because in my university, I was in the international department, with very few Chinese teachers, as most of them were foreigners as well. And all my classmates were for foreigners, so there was no requirement for me to learn Chinese in university. But after being in China for so long (I've been China for eight years in total now) after my third year, I thought that I've been in a country for three years, and I can't even count to 10 properly, so it’s time to do something about it! I learnt most of my Chinese skills by communicating with sellers on Taobao!

 4  When did you realize you wanted to become a teacher?

As I have mentioned, I have been teaching since I was in high school myself, it started off with tutoring. And then I was assisting my physics teacher. So basically, I would make his Power Point Presentations for him, I would grade his papers, I would do all the paperwork, make exam questions. He gradually started giving me more responsibilities. Back then, A Level chemistry, A Level physics and A Level Biology had separate sections. One was the theory the other was application. There was even a booklet called the applications booklet. He said to me: Okay, you go teach the application part because like, I do not have time. My entry into the education world It was a gradual process. I do not really think that there was a specific moment where I thought, okay, I want to be a teacher, it just kind of, sort of, happened!

 5  Who is your biggest role model?

Carl Sagan.

When Voyager was leaving our solar system, Carl Sagan asked NASA to turn it around so it could take a picture of Earth. That picture is a bad picture. It is blurry. You cannot see anything. But it is all about who we are and what we are. Every time I hear Sagan’s Pale blue Dot speech It gives me chills. He turned that one blurry picture that is very unremarkable into something truly special, which has inspired generations.

 6  What are your hobbies? And what do you enjoy about them?

Recently, I started flying drones. This is very recently, as in the last two weeks. While my drone has a range of 4km, I have only flown it about 800 meters so far! I am a nerd to the extreme. So, you can always find me watching an endless amount of science videos. I really wish I had my own lab at home! I would love to play more video games, but I don’t have much time and I’m really bad at them!

 7  What do you find most rewarding about your job?

So, when you teach science, especially a subject like chemistry when you talk to anyone, and they always say they hated chemistry in high school and that it was their worst subject. I do not understand that mindset. For me, as a curious person, I do not understand how you can live a life without wanting to know how things work.

Occasionally, you get these special moments when you are teaching. It can be something as simple as, you know, the types of bonds or like how energy can affect certain things. You can see something click in their eyes.  It does not happen that often, in fact, it happens very rarely. But when you see it, it is something nice. You can tell that, they do not just now know the fact, they really comprehend it.  Their whole worldview shoots up Just a little and you feel that you have let them take the next step forward. It is one of the great pleasures of teaching, seeing that and knowing that you have done your job effectively.

 8  If you could be a character in a TV Show, movie or Musical, who would you be?

I would be a character in Stargate. This is a TV Series where there is a machine (it’s a really old machine, which creates wormholes) and you can just get into it and go to the other side of the galaxy instantaneously! Wouldn't everyone want to do that?

 9  So what food is like a guilty pleasure to you?

I am afraid that they're opening a McDonald's right across the street! If I were in my home country, I would say barbecue wraps or biryani, but you do not really get those here. So, when I am in China convenience foods are my guiltiest pleasure. You order and it arrives in 20 minutes!

 10  Can you Describe Yourself in three words?

Compassionate nerdy nerd.

 11  Tell us about Your experiences living in China?

I have been in China for eight years I've lived in a lot of different places and Suzhou is one of the nicest places that I've lived in.  I would say that it is just big enough. It is not as crowded as other cities and it feels like the old China and new China coming together. Shanghai is right around the corner. So, when I do feel like going to a big city I can.

 12  How do you find teaching Chinese students?

I think student are students all over the world. You need to think while being in their shoes. And if you can do that students are all the same. But Chinese students are like, like most humans in Asia, very respectful. But apart from that I do not think there is that big of a difference.  You just need to build rapport with them.

 13  Do you have any advice for our students?

When you go out of China, do not be in your little close-knit Chinese group. Try to expand, make friends and be more international. You have had Chinese friends all your life while you were in China. When you go into university in the UK, or America or wherever, try to learn from other people because that is the best way to learn.

 14  Favourite Books, Video Game and Movie?

My favourite book is Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

My favourite video game is Dragon Age, the original.

My favourite movie is The Matrix, for nostalgic reasons because, I remember this was the first movie we watched on our first DVD player. It is a great film and the science fiction behind it is fascinating.

 15  What are your plans for the next five years?

Continue to develop my skills as a teacher. And apart from that, I am not sure. My mom has been like a saying that she wants to come to China and spend some time here. So maybe that will happen after COVID travel restrictions are lifted.