Limin Bai – ‘Academic Goals are Often the Precursor to a Successful, Satisfying Career’

Limin Bai worked in childcare for over 13 years, including a special education school, and through her studies has advanced her career to tutoring at third level, following her passion for early years education.

Limin gained her MA in Early Childhood Studies at Portobello Institute in 2021 – 2022. She brings her knowledge, experience and expertise as a tutor to Portobello.

Her passion for early years education grew exponentially during her studies, and she remains passionate about furthering her own education and helping others to fulfil their potential too.

“Studying always is the right thing to do. There’s nothing quite like the rush of pride and relief when you reach your goals or achieve the grades you want. Particularly if they’re good grades. And these achievements provide important boosts to self-confidence and self-esteem.

“Until then, visualising the moment I get grades can be a powerful incentive to keep going! Working towards being the best version of myself is highly motivating and rewarding, and a key benefit of continual studying. Knowing that I’m developing good habits and continually learning new skills can create a strong sense of who I am and who I want to be.

“Having effective study goals is an important part of the motivational process. And those goals are often intertwined with where I want to go academically.

“The drive to achieve those goals is an important reason why I keep studying! Academic goals are often the precursor to a successful, satisfying career.

“As many career paths require the right choices and courses in school and beyond, having a clear ambition for my career is an important part of knowing why I am studying,” she said. 

Limin is passionate about children developing their emotional literacy (EL) and supporting their mental health. She found and followed this passion through her experience, studies and research. She believes that undertaking studies can help you to find what you are most interested in within your sector or career.

“I think the course brings the passion. When I feel I’m losing my passion, then I go back to college, learning and sharing knowledge with people who have similar careers together brings more passion.

“Within the early years, I am most passionate about play, children developing their emotional literacy (EL) and supporting their mental health. 

“I believe that play in the early years holds great importance and I am passionate about creating enabling environments for the children to develop through their play. As well as this, working in an early years setting throughout the pandemic has ignited my passion for the development of EL and children’s mental health.

“Since conducting research on the topic I make sure I have a focus in my room on feelings and I encourage the children to use emotional words to name how they are feeling. As practitioners, we also model this by using emotional words in conversations with them,” she explained.

Limin currently works as a tutor at Portobello Institute and hopes to continue this while branching into child protection. She also hopes to continue her studies with another master’s and will look to Portobello Institute first for this. 

“I have had an excellent experience as a student in Portobello. The tutors support me all the time, they guide us step by step. Even though English is not my first language, I feel really ok. I have gained a lot of confidence with learning and encouragement.  

“I like how all students with the tutor have a WhatsApp group, everyone supports each other. No one has been left out. All classes are online, and I love it, especially since I have two jobs at the same time. It is so convenient. I like the way I can find all resources from ePortobello, it’s so handy. I love all tutor’s attitudes and the way how they support students,” she said. 

Limin encourages everyone considering further education to go for it despite fears or worries as you will be supported at Portobello.

“If I can do it, I believe everyone can do it. I think a lot of people want to gain a Master’s certification, but the learning journey and academic writing could be the hard part, I believe these difficulties can be overcome with the tutor’s support,” she said.

If you are interested in studying any of our Early Years & Montessori courses, visit our department page here. You can book a consultation call with our expert advisor Jennifer Matteazzi here, email [email protected] or call 01 892 0031.