Author spends 20 years searching for teacher who patiently taught him English
Author Jamil Jan Kochai came to the US at 1 and a half years old, growing up in a household that only spoke Pashto & Farsi. As a kindergartner, he couldn’t speak a word of English.
His kindergarten teacher would punish him for not understanding directions.
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The family moved a lot since his father kept looking for better work and housing so Jamil attended three different schools in 1 year while still struggling with English.
After the first grade, the family went back to Afghanistan for the summer.
As a result, he forgot what little English he learned.
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Then he met Mrs. Susannah Lung during the 2nd grade.
Mrs. Lung gave Jamil extra lessons in reading and writing after school just so he could catch up with the others.
Jamil learned to read and write by the end of the year, and come third grade, he won awards for reading comprehension.
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But his family’s constant moving caused him to lose track of Mrs. Lung. For years during high school and college, Jamil did his best to find her, using social media but with no luck.
He called his old school, visited the district office, and tried all means but the problem was he didn’t know Mrs. Lung’s first name.
Jamil gave up his search in his 20’s, thinking his old teacher must have moved on with her life.
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Then a few years later, after his novel 99 Nights in Logar was released, he received a notification on Facebook.
It was Mrs. Lung’s husband, Allen, who found out about an article he wrote for LitHub. He mentioned his former teacher in the article so Allen asked if he would like to speak to her.
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Jamil and his family gathered for the call, with his parents wanting to thank Mrs. Lung for her dedication teaching him. When Jamil heard Mrs. Lung’s voice, he couldn’t help but cry.
He proudly told her that everything he accomplished was because of her and that he had been looking for her for years.
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Jamil promised to meet her soon since it was the height of the pandemic at the time.
Soon after that, his wife gave birth, the Afghan Government collapsed, and his grandmother died. Jamil finished at Stanford, publishing his second book The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories.
He lost touch with Mrs. Lung.
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Then one night, after his reading, Allen Lung came up, introduced himself, and brought Jamil to Mrs. Lung. He finally got to hug his 2nd-grade teacher again.
It was a lovely chat.
Jamil signed her book and took down their numbers before inviting them to dinner.
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His father had a saying in Pashto that “every child is a rocket filled with fuel and all they need is a single spark to lift off into the sky”.
Susannah Lung was Jamil’s spark.
Jamil tells people his story and how important Mrs. Lung was to him. A good teacher can change a child’s life in a single year.
Susannah Lung is an awesome teacher!
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Source: My Positive Outlooks, Jamil Jan Kochai