FOR better or worse, everybody remembers at least a few of their teachers from high school or university. But for many teachers, the work is more than just a job – it’s building the future.

U Maung Maung Lay, 57, is a professor and head of the Myanmar Language Department at Mandalay University. He said he believed that following your interests was critical for success in life.

For him, the choice to specialise in Myanmar language at university following his matriculation, came in place of a career in medicine.

U Maung Maung Lay said he chose this career path because because in high school he had enjoyed language. And followed this initial desire by writing poems and reading classical poetry – all on the advice of one of his Myanmar language teachers.

His determination to be a Myanmar major student at university was confirmed during the celebration of Union Day one year. Held at the foot of Mandalay Hill, representatives from every state made speeches about their towns and discussed local customs and traditions.

“Their usage of the language and combinations of words describing their towns and traditions were very soft and beautiful. Their speeches really touched my heart that day,” he said.

“When I learned that these representatives were teachers from the Myanmar Department, I wanted to be like them and chose to follow a career of teaching the Myanmar language,” he said.

U Maung Maung Lay said that because he was studying a subject he loved, he was able to focus on his work and won first position each year at his university. But he said that if he had chosen to be a doctor, he would have failed because he lacked passion for the study.

While U Maung Maung Lay became a professor after following his interests, 36-year-old Daw Su Su San followed a different path. She said she became an assistant lecturer in philosophy by chance.

“When I enrolled for university after my matriculation exam, I chose philosophy because it was a new subject. But once I started my degree I quickly made up my mind to be a lecturer,” she said.

While completing her Master’s Degree in philosophy, Daw Su Su San became a tutorial teacher at Dagon University.

“I was only a tutorial teacher and had not given lectures in front of a full class but then a distant university opened up and they had too many students and needed teachers, so I started giving lectures,” she said.

She said that although she was nervous about teaching students before she entered the classroom, once on stage her nerves subsided and she was able to act like an experienced teacher.

“But I dared not look too closely at the students because I knew there were more than 100 of them, including monks and nuns,” she said.

“I give lessons as often as I can and I get plenty of encouragement when I think students understand what I’m trying to teach,” she said.

She also said that after receiving praise from her professors, her class grew to about 150 students, instead of the usual 120. Extra students had joined up – just to be in her class. She said that motivated her try even harder.

“As a teacher, I want to pass on everything that I’ve learned and when my students answer questions correctly in their exams, I'm very pleased. I love my career more and more every year,” Daw Su Su San said.

She said she thought that teaching was a noble profession because every day she was helping to improve the lives of her students.