Twenty-three-year-old Jared McPhoy always knew he wanted to become a teacher. In fact, as he tells it, his nursery school teacher impacted his life so much that he knew it by the time he got to primary school. Today, days shy of his 24th birthday, McPhoy is not only a trained teacher but also a University of Guyana graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Education – English (Secondary).
School was not always a joyous atmosphere for McPhoy. He recalled that in secondary school he was continually teased which made it difficult some days. A lover of language, who teaches both English Literature (B), which was his first love and English Language (A) at the Annandale Secondary School, the young teacher has chronicled his school days and the challenging years he faced as a child in his home environment in a book set to be released soon. By Grace Through Faith: A Journey of Self Discovery is the medium McPhoy has used to help him to heal from his childhood experiences and move forward.
McPhoy, who has been a teacher for five years, said during an interview with this newspaper, “that means a lot to me. You know I am young. I am 23 years old, I’ll be 24 this same month and to start teaching so young was a good thing for me.”
Inspired by “the kind of teachers I had,” he first mentioned Miss Shonette Moore, who was “really awesome”, when he attended nursery school.
“You know I just remember her kindness and gentleness in dealing with us and then when I went to primary school I remember my teacher that taught me in Grade 5 and 6 her name is Miss
Zoe Mae Luke-Wills and she was really great. She loved her job and I think that passion at an early age, I recognised it and like I just saw that for myself…”
Because of Miss Luke-Wills, he started to teach at home. Taking chalk from school, he wrote on the back of the door in his room or on the fence. He had a whip and a student as well; he taught his sister who was in Grade One what he learnt in Grade 5 and her scores were in the late nineties on her report card.
He held on to his idea of becoming a teacher but swayed from it a little when he was in first form at President’s College as it was there everyone expressed the desire to become a doctor.
“But then coming close to fourth form I said, ‘this doctor thing is not really for me.’ I want to become a teacher so I went into the Arts stream and it was in the Arts stream I realised I love English, I love literature…,” he shared.
Even as he was writing the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations he applied to the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and put ‘awaiting results’ when he submitted his application. “I know I would have passed. It was just the Maths I was a little worried about but I passed Maths and I knew I was going to get in,” he said.
After high school it was CPCE and he was attached to Annandale Secondary School where he still is today. After his one year induction it was straight to UG, completing his studies in 2020 to be among the first set of “pandemic graduates”.
McPhoy, who is happy with his career choice, teaches third, fourth and fifth formers, but over the five years he has taught all the levels both English A and B. This year was his first with CSEC students and he was very proud as they all did extremely well.
Advantage
Cognisant of the fact that his age could cause some children to not respect him, he used his size as an advantage.
“Right away I picked up in order to get their respect or their attention I would have to be aggressive. So, I am not even going to lie to you, especially that first year that I came into the system, I was very stern on them, I was very strict. Like I was that teacher when the students saw me on the corridor they would run in the class…,” he said.
He believed at that time it was the only way to command a level of respect but pointed out that while it worked for a while, over time he realised respect should not be based on fear, because if “it is out of fear it is not really respect because behind your back they will talk disrespectful things and you could never get the best of them”.
He then changed his approach and initially he also “ran from fourth and fifth form” as he did not want to mess with the older children. He dealt with the lower classes whose respect he gained.
Five years into the job he has realised, because he has altered his approach, that while most of the students know his age it is no longer an issue and the respect is genuine.
Life experiences
In his book, McPhoy speaks about his life experiences, his relationship with God and how connecting with Him has really impacted his life in a positive manner.
“At a very young age I am very proud of my life and what I have been able to accomplish thus far…,” he said.
He said he felt inspired to write about his journey and hopes that readers would be inspired.
He wrote about his childhood days and his mom being a single parent. At one point he considered his family to be somewhat dysfunctional as his mom had to take his father to court for child support.
When his father visited, as a child, he found it conflicting, he said because “this guy isn’t supporting us but then he is still coming over and that in itself was very confusing for me.
“Some of the things I witnessed growing up in my family, it kind of mentally affected me greatly. … I grew up in poverty for the early part of my life.”
He recalled their electricity being cut off for about six months as his mother could not have afforded to pay the bill. During that same period, his mother was cooking a meal one night and after she finished, she realised that a frog had jumped into the pot and she was forced to discard it.
“I just remember watching her face… but thank God she had a good friend who was able to give her something to use for us,” he said.
He always loved studying and had no qualms about using candlelight to do so, but felt embarrassed when he got to school and there was wax on the pages. All of this took a toll on him mentally, which he realised when he became older.
The bullying he endured in secondary school was mostly verbal. He was taunted about his size and assumptions were made about his sexuality. “I didn’t fit in. I wasn’t into sports. I was never really friends with a lot of males, I more gelled with the females,” he said. He said he felt safer with girls because before his brother was born (he is younger by six years) it was his mom and two sisters and him.
“Being different, children at that level can really taunt you, trouble you, it was really hard. I remember sometimes, let’s say I had to walk a particular way to get to a class, if I see a group of boys that I know would tell me something, I would walk the long way just to avoid them and the taunts,” he said.
McPhoy said he never told his mom because he felt she had enough to deal with and he did not want to add to her stress. In fourth form life got somewhat better as he was a part of a group called ‘Famous Four’ (two boys and two girls) and it felt like a family.
“The three of them I would tell you, they made the end of secondary school worth it for me. It was enjoyable, they were like my protective set of people that I just gelled with,” he recalled.
The group ended after CSEC as the others stayed in school to write the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations and he moved on to CPCE. There, he attempted to form another group, but it was a different environment and in the end he felt left out as he had low self-esteem because of his size.
“I remember at a point in my life whenever I go out in public my head would always be down,” he said. If someone was talking to me, I would never look them in their face, make eye contact or speak to them confidently…”
There were also great internal struggles, but McPhoy said the pandemic helped as he used the period to do some soul searching. The “book is now a revelation of that and me encouraging persons that if you are going through those things, having suicidal thoughts and you feel uncomfortable and surrounded but people who don’t see the best in you know that’s not the end of the story,” he noted.
The final edit of the book is completed and he will soon send copies to his family members. He said he wanted to send the completed version to them because “whether they like it or not I am okay with the story I told. I am at peace. If I had shared it with them earlier on I might have been so gullible to want to change up certain things, change the narrative to suit them…”
He said he wanted to tell a story that is true, authentic to him and one that he is proud of.
“I did not want it to be watered down. What is the sense of saying you are writing a book about yourself when it doesn’t truly represent you? Because the truth is, right now in my life there are people who like me and there are people who don’t and that’s fine…,” he said.
McPhoy has already started another project which he envisioned would be done in a mini-series that can be used for a short play. The current name is “Unchurched” and it chronicles the life of “church people”, whom, he said, at times can put up a front.
“I believe as church people when we are not honest, when we actually fall to sin, that is when people call us hypocrites because we always put up this holier than thou image. So with the short form series that I am writing, it really dives into the lives of the characters that are presented to you in this church,” he shared.
While McPhoy loves teaching, he said he does not feel it is “my forever. I feel it would have a season. But it is my now and it is something I love to do”.
He hinted that he wants to transition into the artistic world because of his love for literature. “It is calling me to grow in more ways artistically,” he said.
“So for now teaching is it and if I am to be honest with you I have a contract with the government so I am serving my contract faithfully. It is what I am doing for now and I am happy about it and I am passionate about it.”
McPhoy’s book comes out on October 30 (his birthday) and persons can reach out to him on Facebook and Instagram (his handles are his name) for copies which cost $4,000 each. The book can also be purchased on Amazon.
He encourages people to take time to get in tune with themselves and be intentional about the lives they want to live.
