Living Museum of Learning
A Message in the Subway
On July 21, 2026, I was riding the Toronto subway to attend Derek Haoyang Li's keynote speech on AI for Education.
As the train moved through the tunnels, my phone vibrated.
It was Lambert, the father of Kenneth, a student who had spent about a year and a half learning with me one-on-one. Kenneth had even lived in the same apartment building so he could come to my home after school almost every day, carrying his laptop and exploring mathematics, programming, and problem solving together.
Lambert shared wonderful news.
Kenneth had received his high school's Computer Science Award and had chosen to attend McMaster University.
The award itself was exciting.
What touched me even more was Lambert's message:
"非常感谢你的培养。"
Years had passed since our lessons ended.
Yet in that moment, a parent still connected his son's achievement with the learning journey we had shared.
The timing felt almost symbolic.
I was traveling to hear people discuss the future of AI in education, while my phone quietly delivered evidence of something that technology alone cannot replace:
A deep educational relationship can continue influencing a student's life years after the lessons have ended.
AI may accelerate learning.
But trust, curiosity, confidence, and the joy of discovery still grow through meaningful human connections.
Educational impact is rarely visible in the moment.
Sometimes it takes years before a parent sends a single message that reveals how far a student's journey has continued.
Perhaps the greatest assessment is not an exam score, but a message that arrives unexpectedly long after the classroom is gone.