“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…”
Adventure, ambition, and exploration have always been essential parts of who I am. I love to learn and soak up information like a sponge. Living abroad, immersing myself in another nation’s culture, language, and history, has long been something I’ve craved, a life goal. I have an insatiable desire to learn about the world and experience it firsthand.
Since middle school, I have dreamed of teaching abroad. For many years, I thought I would achieve that dream through the PeaceCorps. I even applied to the PeaceCorps my senior year of college and was invited to interview for “the Agriculture Extension Agent-Rural Aquaculture Promotion (RAP) position in Zambia.” Well… not exactly what I had in mind. I didn't feel comfortable or qualified enough to accept a position in agriculture when my area of expertise is education. I realized that I could still teach and make an impact without going abroad through AmeriCorps, so that’s what I decided to do this past year.
Serving with City Year AmeriCorps was extremely rewarding, challenging, and educational. My conflict management skills, confidence, adaptability, and resilience all skyrocketed from this experience. The students were, BY FAR, the best part of the job, and they inspired me to be a better teacher, leader, and person. I still think about them, the difficulties we overcame returning to in-person instruction and the lasting effects of the pandemic, and the impact they left on me. It motivated me even more to teach abroad and proved that I am capable of handling whatever life throws at me.
Not only was I drawn to Fulbright because of my values and goals, but also my skills and experiences. In college, I despised German and only took it to satisfy the language requirement for my degree. However, once I had the chance to use it in practical settings, like at local German conversation hours, my perspective changed. Rather than focusing on the red marks across my essays, the confusing tenses, and mistakes with der/die/das, I learned to love it as a living, useful tool to connect with others. Working as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant is an ideal way to fulfill several life goals, employ and improve my German skills, and continue positively impacting students.
While in Germany, I will be working with two schools: Christian Ernst Gymnasium (a musical high school) and Loschgeschule (a bilingual elementary school). I will also be taking classes at Friedrich Alexander University. I am very excited to meet my students soon and integrate into the Erlangen community!
Some of my goals for my time in Germany:
1. Maintain this blog!
2. Connect with my students and teach them a thing or two about English
3. Join a local choir (I have my eyes set on Friedrich Alexander University’s Concert Choir)
4. Start or join a local English conversation hour
5. Significantly improve my German language skills
6. Start or help with at least one extracurricular program at my partner schools (I would love to start one focused on women’s leadership, inspired by the programs I participated in at Ohio University)
7. Find a common interest group in my community and make some friends (maybe through joining a yoga studio or a writing group)
8. Adapt to life in Germany
9. Send postcards back home
10. Explore Europe when I have some free time
I am starting this blog to track, process, and remember my experiences. I will be writing for myself, not to please or meet the expectations of others. For those who choose to read along, I hope you enjoy the journey! Bis bald!
Good luck honey. I will follow!
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