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A Full Circle of Grace: When Students Become Our Greatest Teachers
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Jerome Lingo
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Middle School Learning Specialist
Hong Kong International School
5 min read
November 2025
On October 5th, 2025, my world changed without warning. What began as an ordinary day ended in heartbreak. My beloved mother passed away suddenly, just when hope seemed within reach. After enduring rounds of chemotherapy and a successful surgery to defeat bladder cancer, we believed the worst was behind us. But life had other plans. Complications arose, and she was gone.
The days surrounding the funeral blurred together. Bereavement leave offered little time for grief, consumed instead by logistics and helping my father adjust to life alone after 47 years of marriage. When I returned to work, my head was spinning. The world had moved on, but mine had shattered. I faced the hardest part of grief: learning to live in a world that rushes forward when yours has fallen apart.
The alarm still rang. The bus still came. Lesson plans, paperwork, and meetings continued. Seasons changed. Yet I remained frozen carrying an absence only a few could understand. I felt drained, moving on autopilot, until one day, messages began appearing in my inbox.
At that point, I never knew what I needed. All I knew was that the loneliness of grief is extraordinary but my former students knew the right words to say. It wasn't complicated and it wasn't fixing, just acknowledging the reality of my experience and letting me know that I am being held in their thoughts. It reminded me that years ago, I once built a safe space for them. Now, they are holding space for me when I need it the most. It was like they all joined hands and created a room for me to feel safe in the loss. It seems so familiar because it felt like a refuge that echoed the love my mother once gave so freely.
The reciprocity was so profound as this circle of grace closed gently around me. I would give my parents full credit for the safe space I was able to provide my former and present students. It was from the overflowing and unconditional love they poured into me that allowed me to pour into cups of others and now, it returns to me in ways I never imagined. I might forever mourn the fact that my mom will not see the person that I will become. But a part of her stays; in these full circle moments, in resilience, in gratitude, in the care that we give, and the time we treasure. In all the tiny traces that time can’t erase. And that for me is everything.
A full circle of grace that showed me how deeply the bonds we build in education can endure. This experience taught me that our students could truly become our greatest teachers.
About the author: Jerome Lingo is an international educator at Hong Kong International School. He was born and raised in Manila and is a proud Filipino. Prior to Hong Kong, he taught in several international schools across the globe, namely, International School of Manila (Philippines), International School of Tanganyika (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania), American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ) and Academia Cotopaxi (Quito, Ecuador).
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