At MFS, great teachers are not hard to come by. But there are few teachers whom I can say have taught me since Middle School and have watched me literally and emotionally mature in their classroom. There are a few teachers who I consider to be my family and treat me like their child. I’m so grateful to say that Cathy Wang, known as Wang Lao Shi to her students (Teacher Wang in Chinese), is one of those few teachers in my life — a teacher who I trust like a mother and a person who loves her students like her very own children.

I’ve had Wang Lao Shi as my Chinese teacher for the past five years. I’ve sat at the same desk in her classroom since I was 11. Although so many things have changed in my life since I was 11, one thing has always stayed constant — my Chinese class, and more importantly, my relationship with my loving Chinese teacher.

Chinese class was always a home I could rely on. There really is something so special about being raised in a class by the same teacher. I’ve gotten a learning experience with a person who not only knows who I am as a student, but also understands my character as a person inside and out. Wang Lao Shi knows how to push me and my classmates to levels that make sense for us as individual learners.

Being taught by Wang Lao Shi for so many years is a testament to her commitment to the program. She has devoted her life to teaching students her culture, and has raised my class in particular in the language, teaching me and my classmates in the Class of 2027 since Middle School.

I remember when she was first asked to teach high school-level Chinese, she told me she was worried that her teaching abilities wouldn’t be enough for my class. She had only taught Middle Schoolers before taking on the role as a high school instructor, and wasn’t sure how she would fare as an upper level teacher. Wang Lao Shi always wanted to give her students everything she could possibly offer to provide us with the best education possible. Looking back, I hope she knows that she was more than enough for us. Her lessons were more than just instructional periods to learn the Chinese language, but immersive experiences that allowed students to embrace Chinese culture and tradition in a way no other class could.

There’s a certain quality to Wang Lao Shi’s class that can’t be replicated in any other way. It’s a feeling that makes you feel at home in her classroom: a motherly touch every time she corrects your pronunciation, a special warmth in the way she teaches that makes you feel loved and cared for. For Wang Lao Shi, her Chinese class is something beyond a job — it’s her life, her heart, and her soul.

Growing up at MFS, there weren’t any East Asian Middle School teachers besides Wang Lao Shi. In our classes, I watched the way she so proudly represented her Chinese heritage in her teachings and stories about her life. She gave me a reason to be proud of my identity as a Chinese American. Despite generational differences, I could relate to her more than any other teacher. She didn’t just understand me, she understood my family and my culture, a part of my life outside of school that nobody else sees.

I’ve learned the most from Wang Lao Shi. It’s through her infamous mid-class life lessons that we students get a glimpse into her life, her past, and her journey, and take away something beyond how to write Chinese characters and use proper grammar. These stories have inspired me throughout my time at MFS. She taught me how to farm rice from her stories, reminiscing about her hometown in Taiwan. She taught me how to rap in Chinese while dancing with Chinese fans. She taught me the importance of staying motivated in school and how her commitment to her education allowed her to find success as an immigrant in America. She taught me how to be kind to others through her passion for volunteering in her church and local community. Wang Lao Shi taught me how to be a good person in this world.

I think many people know Wang Lao Shi for her bubbly, energetic, and positive personality. But what I don’t think people entirely know about Wang Lao Shi is her work ethic, her morals, and her passion. Wang Lao Shi is one of the most hardworking people I have ever met. She lovingly takes care of her family of four at home and spends her time giving back to her community through acts of service. Being a student in her class meant to get to know Wang Lao Shi beyond the classroom setting.

When Wang Lao Shi informed our class she would be retiring, I, alongside all of my classmates, cried. It was scary thinking of Chinese class without Wang Lao Shi. It was scary thinking of an MFS without Wang Lao Shi — an MFS without her energy, passion, and fiery voice that could (quite literally) be heard all throughout the school.

Although Wang Lao Shi’s retirement is a wonderful next step in her life, I can’t help but feel sentimental and anxious about the way her absence at MFS will impact me. I’m still scared of what the future holds for our school without Wang Lao Shi. I worry about what will become of the Chinese program without her devotion and love fueling younger generations of students to study the language and embrace the culture that comes with it. I, frankly, worry about the person I will become without having a guiding mother like Wang Lao Shi to give me the best advice and life lessons. Losing Wang Lao Shi as a teacher at MFS feels like I’m losing a piece of myself.

Wang Lao Shi’s retirement marks the end of an era in the Chinese program at MFS. However, I have faith that her love for her class and her students, after 17 years of teaching at MFS, will continue to translate into future classrooms and the hearts of future generations of Chinese language learners. She leaves behind her extraordinary teaching legacy at MFS — the sheer love and commitment she had to her students in giving them everything she had to offer as a teacher and motherly figure.

Wang Lao Shi and her impact on this school isn’t just a reflection of MFS’s great community, but of good people who live in this world. She is a living example of perseverance, grit, and passion. We need more Wang Lao Shis in our world. I hope every person gets the chance to have a Wang Lao Shi in their life. I’m so fortunate to have her in my life as my teacher, my mentor, and my friend for so many formative years in my MFS journey. I’m so thankful for her letting me and my classmates into her life as well.

In the goodbye video I planned to present to Wang Lao Shi during this year’s Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month assembly for the Upper School, I chose a specific song to use as the background music for my classmates and I to sing along to: Teresa Teng’s “The Moon Represents My Heart.” This song was one of Wang Lao Shi’s favorites, and was a song that Wang Lao Shi had taught us to sing in class. While singing the song on stage as a final thank you and celebration of her MFS career, I felt a strong sense of pride to be a student of Wang Lao Shi. I felt so honored to have been taught by her and graced with her love.

I am eternally grateful for the learning opportunities she has provided me and the support she has given me throughout my MFS journey. I hope she knows that MFS will always be a home for her, and she will always have a place in my heart.

The lyrics to the song we sang felt fitting: “你问我爱你有多深, 我爱你有几分? 我的情不移, 我的爱不变, 月亮代表我的心.” [Translated: You ask me how deep my love for you is, how much do I love you? My affection will not waver, my love will never change, the moon represents my heart].

In one of my very first lessons as a sixth grader in Wang Lao Shi’s class, she taught me that 再见, Zai Jian, the set phrase for “goodbye” in English, could be literally translated to “again” (Zai) and “see” (Jian), put together meaning to “see you again later.” So for now, 再见 Zai Jian, Wang Lao Shi. Please always remember you have a forever family here at MFS. I can’t wait until we see each other again.