Thursday, December 25, 2008

class of 2010 (vii) - from d to a

finally we arrived at the last post of this series. another very special five members of the class of 2010 to go, concluded at christmas day.
and what a pleasure it is to start with mr. david kim. it is not only a cliché, but an actual fact that girls tend to be more mature than boys at this age, and this is certainly true for this class. i’m not saying that the boys are necessarily immature, or even that it is something bad not to be too mature at this age. but david has a very high level of maturity. he’s not only very intelligent and smart, he is wise. very balanced, very respectful, very thoughtful. he just seems to know. and he is a pleasure both to teach and to hang around.
camila pinto is a very sweet person. she is a very good representative of superior female maturity (hehe), having all the qualities of a strong student: hard work, perseverance, interest, and a lot of extra-curriculars going on. she definetly knows what she wants – to be the best she can be. and i’ll tell you write now: she is great! very empathetic, natural leader, nice sense of humor, good choice of boyfriend – and did i mention her sweetness?
as can be attested by now, i am a not-so-secret fan of this class. if there were a fan club, i would be a member. this is also the case with this next member, audrey. i mean, the name is a starter (as future posts will explain). and this audrey, too, is very rich in the inside. she is persuasive and not afraid to use her charm. she is hard working and willing to get the best out of her. she can be very funny and very serious. she is a very fast thinker, and is bound to be quite a profound one. and she likes people.
arthur is somewhat of a wiz. he is the single student i have taught the most – two classes each year, from day one. and without too much studying effort, he has done very well both in physics and in math. that’s for starters. but the karate kid has a lot more to offer: true kindness sometimes camouflaged in his particular love for irony and sarcasm. loyalty and honesty; a great mind and a great heart. sincerity. and a sense of humor. next year only one class, arthur?
i close this chapter with a person i profoundly admire. i’ve seen her in all her great upbringing. not only polite, but really just nice. i haven’t seen her dancing, but my guess is she is graceful. i’ve seen her mind every time i correct a test or get an interesting question: what a brilliant mind it is, not only organized, but very much eloquent and independent. i’ve seen her jump up and down – a very vivid image showing her always positive ambition. i’ve seen her striving for perfection, and i’d tell her: be as you are, because there is true beauty inside you, ana luiza altaffer.
this concludes the quite long series on a very special bunch of people. i wish them and all of you merry christmas, happy holidays and a great start to 2009.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

feliz natal pra vc também!!!
Beijos ;-)

Anonymous said...

Mr. Goncalves,
This was probably the nicest thing any teacher has ever done for us. I truly admire you and I consider us lucky to have a teacher like you. Thank you very much for everything. You are an amazing teacher. You inspire us and motivate us to always try our best. And the fact that you took your time to do this for our class shows that you are not only a good teacher but also a great person. I hope you had a great Christmas and that you have a happy 2009.

Anonymous said...

Mr, vlw pelo q se disse, very touchy, e mto legal tb...devo adimitir q é um prazer ter vc como nosso profesor e vo tenta launch uma campanha pra q vc de o graduating speech pra nossa classe... ainda tenho mais um semestre de double number marathon com vc...e mal ai se eu meio q morro em math mais é mto numero pra uma pessoa só, eu juro q tento nao morre mais nao da. Eu ainda qru, sim pq eu so loco, faze meu extended essay em math ou physics, e fla nisso eu descobri q sou loco mesmo pq to fazendo meu math investigation por prazer, COMO ASSIM, vc abriu um conceito de math q eu nao conhecia, a diversao e satisfacao de descobrir as coisas! Ontem mesmo eram umas 9 da noite, NAS FERIAS, e eu começei a faze math...tipo acho q merecia um wtf is going on...Anyway, vlw por tudo, e vo te manda esse texto por email tb pq se nao deve ler os coments do seu blog...Arthur