How I Became an International Teacher
Throughout my life, I have embraced any opportunity possible to mentor and connect with students from culturally-diverse backgrounds. In high school, I volunteered at a nearby elementary school to work with at-risk students, in university I worked as a resident assistant to support first-year and international students, and when I graduated university, I pitched an idea to expand the university’s leadership camp (originally designed for elementary students) to include a year-round high school program. After a year of coordinating the GirlsLEAD High School program, I gladly accepted the opportunity to run an intensive version of the leadership camp in Collymore Rock, Barbados. That summer in Barbados was my first international experience and sparked the realization that my passion for teaching could be combined with my aspiration to experience culture around the world. Not only would it be possible for me to teach my specialties, English and Human Geography, I could live them. I would be able to see what language acquisition and assimilation would be like first-hand, and expand my understanding beyond the classroom, just as I encouraged my students. What could have been an isolated incident, or simply a good story to tell after returning home to creature comforts in Canada, became the launch of something much larger: my international teacher career. Despite the deep-rooted love and appreciation I felt for my family, friends and country, I had to see what other parts of the world had to offer.
After graduating teacher's college in 2011, I spent four years teaching in Korea and I'm now enjoying my second year in Monterrey, Mexico. While I always knew I wanted to become a teacher, I feel grateful that I was able to marry my curiosity for culture with my passion for education.
