Yo Teach... thanks!

Jamil Jan Kochai was only a year old when his family immigrated to California from Peshawar, Pakistan. While he spent most of his life in the States, he barely spoke English by the time he reached kindergarten. 

“I knew, like, 10 letters,” Jamil shared with NPR. He struggled through kindergarten and first grade – and come second grade, he dreaded even going to school at all.

• "I kept getting punished for not understanding or for not obeying directions," he said. "And so I think, in a way, I associated learning or school with punishment."

That all changed when he met Mrs. Lung.

👩🏼‍🏫 Super teacher… Susannah Lung was a second-grade teacher at Alyce Norman Elementary School. When Jamil was assigned to her classroom, she knew he would need a bit of extra help. So the two met every day after school for English and reading lessons.

• "I could see he was sharp as a tack, but it was hard for him," she said of young Jamil.

📚🗣 But nevertheless... they persisted. And it paid off, big time. By the end of the year, Jamil was competing in – and actually winning – reading-comprehension competitions.

⏱ But the story doesn't end there... All of this happened in 1999. Jamil lost touch with Mrs. Lung when he moved schools the following year. Now an accomplished novelist, he’s wanted to thank his teacher for introducing him to his love of writing for the past 22 years... but there was just one issue.

• Jamil didn't even know her first name.

🙏😳 Ask, and the universe shall deliver... Two decades later, Susannah discovered what had become of Jamil when she randomly stumbled across an essay he had published. In it, he mentioned her by name.

Remembering the little seven-year-old she once tutored, Susannah was shocked. And then this summer, she showed up unnanounced at one of his book signings. 

• “When I first went up to sort of introduce the book, I hadn't recognized her,” Jamil shared. “It wasn't until after. And I have to admit, - it was that same sense of just immediate warmth and kindness, you know? It was, like, a 7-year-old Jamil hugging his second-grade teacher again. And that's what it felt like.”

🗯 What she thinks: “That little guy turned into a - just a wonderful man,” said Susannah, “-that writes beautifully - just writes beautifully.”