When Jamil Jan Kochai, now 30, entered second grade, he was terrified. Emigrating to the U.S. from Pakistan when he was just a toddler, Kochai's family spoke Pashto and Farsi at home. In kindergarten, he didn't know a word of English. "I associated language and learning with punishment, fear and disappointment," he recalls. But his second-grade teacher, Mrs. Lung, changed all that. Nearly everyday after school Lung sat with Kochai, warmly teaching him how to read and write. "She showed me that I didn't have to be afraid of it, and it could actually be something that I could come to love," he told "The Washington Post". By the end of that year, Kochai was fluent, and the next year, he won a reading comprehension award. Today, Kochai has published two books and teaches creative writing at multiple universities. He always felt grateful for Lung, but couldn't recall her first name to be able to trace contact to her. But in 2019, Lung was at a medical appointment and the doctor surprised her by asking, "Are you the Mrs. Lung that taught Jamil Jan Kochai?" Kochai had written an article online that recalled his generous teacher. On August 13, 2022, Lung and her husband attended a book reading by Kochai. "When I saw Mrs. Lung there, my heart dropped," Kochai said. "It wasn't like seeing someone from my past, it was like seeing someone that I've known and cared for and loved all my life."
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