PCQE will remain immortal in us, so will him.

Do you realize sometimes you can't decide if you hate or like the person? It's a fucking hard decision because it's a roller-coaster ride of hate/like toward the person. The best part of it, it's mutual. Well, to me, that's love. It's like good people and Death Eaters. "Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters." (Sirius Black). Well, I believe that's what Mr. Mack and his students had. Mr. Mack was the most annoying, mean, tiny Scottish man my AIS friends and I had ever known. But without a doubt, he was the best teacher that we ever had.

He was an English teacher in Ashgabat International School (AIS) when I was in grade 10. He taught us only one school year, but boy, what an impact he had on our lives. He came to the school with a mission to revolutionize our English toward a better future. We were offended, of course. Most of us grew up speaking English. He invented  introduced a system called "Point Context Quote Explanation" (PCQE) to write short answer or essay questions. A single grammar or structure mistake, he would brutally failed us in his annoying Scottish accent and told us to redo again. As time passed, our writing got better and we got close to him: exchanging DVDs, goofing around, playing basketball. He even suggested me literature because he knew I was a book-worm. I remembered at the end of the school year, I cracked my pelvis and I was out of school for a week. When I got back to school, it was finals. I received an A+ from him, I thought it was a pity mark. But during the end-of-the-year assembly, he presented me an award for my hard-work and my A+ essay. During the assembly, he said something like this: "Azim was one of my worst students, constantly failing essays, really bad grammar, and no content. But he never gave up to improve. Today, he's one of my best student with no mistakes in grammar and writes a really good essay." I  was deeply touched. That year, he left AIS. It was a sad moment. After a few months, my family had to go back to Malaysia. I was sure I will meet-up with him in the future, having drinks, talking about life and the good old days.

I received this yesterday, from a friend:

‎"Dear jeren, I am Ians' mother and Elaine sent on yor messages to me. We are as you may imagine devastated at the loss of Ian, it was so tragic and so sudden. He was working in Brunei and very happy. His contract had only a few more weeks to run and he had decided to come home to us after nearly 10 years of working away. We are still not certain, but he either got caught in a rip tide or his surf board hit him on the head, either way he was found on the beach and it was already too late. Your messages and those of your f riends have brought us great comfort. Please will you pass on my sincere thanks. We brought Ian home and laid him to rest on a little hillside not far from where we live. If you or anyone else would like to keep in touch with us we would be only too delighted to hear from you . Yours truly Anne Mack (Mrs.)"

I was devastated. How can a great and talented man just died? He was young and had so much give to the world. After moments of thinking, smoking, pondering in confusion and sadness, at the balcony, I fell into a nap and had the dream of having the drink that I never had with him. 

We were at a local Scottish bar, drinking and talking. I can't remember most part, but we were having a good time. I told him about my life, studying medicine and all. He said, he is in a better place, now. He told me to study hard and thrive in life. He guess he did his part in the world since God has decided to end it. I believe he did. I came to a realization about the honor of being a teacher. In life, every great man's dream is to achieve immortality- Achilles, John Keats, Gregor Mendel and others. They are all immortal through their achievements in war, literature and science. We achieve immortality by making a mark in the world and touching life of others. Mr. Mack did. As long as PCQE is used by his students and people who knew him remembers him, Ian Mack will live on. Before saying goodbye, I asked him if any of this is real, he answered:

I woke up from my nap, and it started to drizzle. I knew, it was real.

Just like Dumbledore to Harry, Mr. Mack was one of my mentors. He lived his life to the fullest and had no regrets.


I won't let you down.

RIP Mr. Mack.