Lessons Beyond the Exam: Ethan Kow’s Journey from Recruitment to Teaching

In the world of education, some arrive by design and some come by discovery. Ethan Kow belongs firmly to the second group. 

Today, he is known as a patient and thoughtful tutor, someone who manages to balance the rigour of academic instruction with the belief that growth comes gradually. His work is not confined to helping students pass exams. He sees teaching as a means of shaping how young people view themselves, their struggles, and their future opportunities.

That perspective didn’t come overnight. Ethan’s path wound through fields as different as psychology and recruitment before he found his footing in education, and each stage left him with lessons he still carries into the classroom. His story is not one of straight lines but of steady accumulation, where every detour taught him to value persistence, listening, and the small shifts that lead to genuine growth. It is precisely this layered journey that gives his teaching its depth today.

From Struggles to Teaching: The Early Turning Point

Ethan’s story began with difficulty. Throughout primary and secondary school, exams seemed like an impossible wall, and he often felt left behind. “From Year 1 until Year 11, I almost failed every single subject,” he admitted. “I felt like I was dumb.” That sense of inadequacy nearly defined him until a teacher, Ms Sam, interrupted the pattern. Her words stayed with him: intelligence was not confined to a score on paper, and failing a test did not mean failing as a person.

With her encouragement, Ethan began to try again, this time with more patience. Slowly, the results changed. By Year 11, he surprised even himself with nearly straight A/A*s for IGCSE grades, proof that he was more capable than he had believed. For the first time, he felt the pride of working through difficulty rather than giving in to it.

That shift carried into his relationships with classmates. He started helping friends revise, explaining concepts in ways that made sense to them. What began casually grew into something more serious as word spread, and by 17, he was tutoring outside his circle. Though he doubted himself at first, each successful lesson gave him confidence. 

Discovering Psychology and Finding His Footing

By the time Ethan arrived at HELP University, he had already learned that education was not a straight line. He began in a foundation in science with engineering plans, but part-time tutoring kept pulling his focus away. “I wanted to learn about human behaviour as well as how I can educate people by understanding them better,” he explained. That decision led him to restart with a foundation in arts, eventually majoring in psychology.

The early months felt like a new beginning. Ethan threw himself into campus life, joining the student council and working closely with lecturers and peers. It gave him a taste of leadership as he learned to negotiate personalities, organise events with limited resources, and build trust across a group.

Then came the pandemic. Classes shifted online, clubs went quiet, and the contrast with his lively foundation year made him realise how fragile learning environments can be. It also underscored what he valued most: connection.

Yet, psychology became a toolkit for his future. It gave him a language to understand motivation and resilience, while side jobs during university taught him to adapt theory to practice. Together, they shaped the way he approaches tutoring: not just delivering information, but paying attention to how each student learns and what they need to move forward.

Recruitment and the Test of Patience

After completing his studies, Ethan entered the world of recruitment. It was a stark contrast to the classroom and a trial by fire in patience. “Recruitment is a grind. You get rejected almost every day,” he said. The job revolved around cold calls, client demands, and monthly targets. Unlike teaching, where progress could be measured in growth and understanding, recruitment measured success in placements and billings.

The early days were especially tough. “I went the first few weeks without making a single sale. I thought I was going to quit,” Ethan said. Each day started with long lists of names and ended with the same quiet frustration of nothing closing. Friends from outside the industry struggled to understand why he continued when it seemed like failure was inevitable. For Ethan, those weeks became a test of endurance. He had to learn to absorb rejection, recalibrate, and pick up the phone again the next morning.

When the first deal finally came through, it was not just a financial breakthrough but a psychological one. “That first placement felt like proof that the process worked.” But even in success, he noticed the clash between the business of numbers and his personal values. Some clients valued speed and profit over fit, while Ethan found himself drawn to conversations that built trust with candidates. “The more I did it, the more I realised that I value connection more than numbers.”

Teaching as True Fulfilment

Tutoring has been a constant thread in Ethan’s life since Year 11. Over the years, it evolved from a side activity into something inseparable from who he was. “For the last six years, I have only had a break from teaching for two months. Other than that, I’ve been consistently teaching every single month. Every week I’ll have a few classes, and recently I’ve been like super duper packed with classes every single day.” His main focus today is mathematics and business studies, though his approach is less about subject mastery and more about shaping how his students learn.

At one point, Ethan was even offered the chance to continue his recruitment career in Singapore, a move that could have set him on a different trajectory. He turned it down. Teaching, for him, was not just another option but the path that felt truest to his values.

He knew then that teaching was not simply a backup plan, but the arena in which his strengths, values, and sense of purpose aligned. Still, the realisation had not come easily. The clarity he felt in choosing teaching was shaped by years of trial, error, and detours into other fields. Each experience had chipped away at the uncertainty, leaving behind a clearer outline of what he truly wanted to do. “Teaching wasn’t my first choice until I ventured into other things, ranging from entrepreneurship to radio, and even F&B. It took these experiences for me to understand where my true passion really lies,” he inferred.

Unlike recruitment, which often reduced people to placements and numbers, teaching allowed him to slow down and value progress in all its forms. He is intentional about how he frames success: “Honestly, I don’t care about your results. I just care if you learn something from me. If I can make an impact in your life positively, that’s good enough for me.” 

Ethan’s methods are patient and often unconventional. He recalled a student whose parents wanted fast results, expecting grades to jump from C to A in three months. He resisted the pressure. “That’s not possible,” he told them, urging them to trust the process. With time and steady guidance, the student transformed. “A year later, that student is a consistent A-star student, just because of time.” For Ethan, this was proof that patience mattered more than shortcuts.

He also sees teaching as a relationship of trust and setting an example. “They need someone that they can look up to,” he explained. Whether through adapting lessons to a student’s pace, checking in on their struggles outside academics, or simply being consistent week after week, tutoring provided him a sense of purpose that recruitment never could. It became the space where his philosophy of delayed gratification translated into visible, lasting growth.

Looking Ahead

For Ethan, the two paths he has walked, recruitment and teaching, are less about contrast than about complement. Recruitment toughened him, while teaching grounded him. Together, they shaped a philosophy that he carries into everything he does. “If you want to go fast, you’ll burn out. If you want to go far, you have to be patient,” he said. The lesson is simple but not easy: trust the process, invest in people, and let growth take its time.

His first goal is simple: he wants to become a teacher. Beyond exams and grades, he hopes to help students build resilience, curiosity, and the ability to learn independently. Over time, he also dreams of starting his own education centre, a place where young people can find the guidance and encouragement he once searched for himself.

Patience, Ethan has learned, is not waiting around. It is showing up day after day with faith in the process, trusting that the investment in people will build something that lasts.