Wow, blog, it's been awhile. I read my last blog just recently, and I realized that I needed to update people about the new stage of my life that I'm about to enter into (and sort of already have).
Since my last post, I've returned to the U.S. The transition was a lot easier than I thought it would be, since I was back home and in my "comfort zone", so to speak...skating, teaching a beginner Spanish class, volunteering, and still teaching English online. Before I left Costa Rica, I was scanning The Literacy Center's blog and saw a job opening for Program Manager. I didn't know she was leaving, but I emailed her and the Executive Director asking about it, and they both wanted me to meet with them about possibly taking the position! I didn't really think it was a possibility, since I didn't have all the job requirements, but they basically said I could train for the job, and if I didn't think it would work out, I could opt out at any time. It's now mid-September and I've been the Administrative Assistant for almost 2 months, which will be ending the end of this month, but I will continue to train for the Program Manager job until November 1st, when I will officially start. The non-profit world is a perfect fit for me, and it fulfills my life goal, which has been to help people improve their language skills, no matter their race, ethnicity, educational background, etc.
This job is just what I've been searching for, and although I still want to continue traveling abroad, I think this is the best choice for me right now. I actually got offered a teaching job at a school in Cuenca, Ecuador, but I would like to travel there first, and with four paid weeks off a year, I'm hoping to travel around South America some more.
I'll post my summer adventures soon...I got to do some traveling within the U.S., first to California to see my family and bestie, then to Colorado for a week visiting my skating friend Max, then to Idaho for my annual BBR adventure.
Showing posts with label The Literacy Center Flagstaff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Literacy Center Flagstaff. Show all posts
14.9.14
16.3.14
Teaching English in Costa Rica...the saga continues!
I apologize ahead of time for being so behind on posts...there are a lot of things going on in my life, most of which I don't have the words to blog about right now. I hope you all can forgive me. Pictures and posts will be updated in the next couple days, I promise! If you want to catch up with my life in pictures, check out my Facebook page...most of the pictures are posted.
This blog will focus mostly on the saga of teaching English in Costa Rica. As I mentioned in previous posts, after I returned to Costa Rica in September 2013, I started teaching English at Politecnico Internacional, a language institute in San José and the northern province, Heredia. I was working part time (about 15 hours a week) until the end of December 2013, at which point, my boss told me there weren't any classes to teach yet, but to keep checking my email while I was back in the States. I figured everything would be fine and I would at least have a couple classes to teach and whatever I wasn't teaching, I could make up with online classes...well easier said than done there. I ended up emailing them a week before I returned to San José, and they responded by saying there still were no classes for me to teach.
I felt defeated, but not completely hopeless. There were still online classes, and I worked my butt off, teaching over 100 hours in January and February (hence the lack of blog posts). I also haven't been traveling as much, which I will probably end up regretting once I'm back in the States, but at the same time, I have to make money somehow. Living here is expensive, but I thank BridgeTEFL for telling me about this online job. It has made life so much easier and less hectic. I'm able to work from home and I have more time to exercise, run errands, and take a few days off if I want to travel. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, right?
I made the decision a few months back to return to Flagstaff in April, no matter what my job situation was like. I'm glad I made that decision, and I vowed to not return to CR to work unless I'm sure it's a reliable job with consistent hours. I'm going to miss the country but it's a part of me, and I know I'll come back to visit. It's going to be hard leaving my roommate, Jenny. She's let me live with her for the last year and we've grown close. I'm going to miss talking to her about everything.
I will be teaching a beginner Spanish class when I get home, starting April 21st. The amazing staff at The Literacy Center reached out to me and wanted me to teach the class. I'm hoping to get a lot of friends to take the class and make relationships with learners that I haven't done before. I feel ready for this new experience!!
This blog will focus mostly on the saga of teaching English in Costa Rica. As I mentioned in previous posts, after I returned to Costa Rica in September 2013, I started teaching English at Politecnico Internacional, a language institute in San José and the northern province, Heredia. I was working part time (about 15 hours a week) until the end of December 2013, at which point, my boss told me there weren't any classes to teach yet, but to keep checking my email while I was back in the States. I figured everything would be fine and I would at least have a couple classes to teach and whatever I wasn't teaching, I could make up with online classes...well easier said than done there. I ended up emailing them a week before I returned to San José, and they responded by saying there still were no classes for me to teach.
I felt defeated, but not completely hopeless. There were still online classes, and I worked my butt off, teaching over 100 hours in January and February (hence the lack of blog posts). I also haven't been traveling as much, which I will probably end up regretting once I'm back in the States, but at the same time, I have to make money somehow. Living here is expensive, but I thank BridgeTEFL for telling me about this online job. It has made life so much easier and less hectic. I'm able to work from home and I have more time to exercise, run errands, and take a few days off if I want to travel. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, right?
I made the decision a few months back to return to Flagstaff in April, no matter what my job situation was like. I'm glad I made that decision, and I vowed to not return to CR to work unless I'm sure it's a reliable job with consistent hours. I'm going to miss the country but it's a part of me, and I know I'll come back to visit. It's going to be hard leaving my roommate, Jenny. She's let me live with her for the last year and we've grown close. I'm going to miss talking to her about everything.
I will be teaching a beginner Spanish class when I get home, starting April 21st. The amazing staff at The Literacy Center reached out to me and wanted me to teach the class. I'm hoping to get a lot of friends to take the class and make relationships with learners that I haven't done before. I feel ready for this new experience!!
25.10.13
Back in the U.S.A. (Part 2)
About a week after coming home from Challis, my friend Kristin went with my dad and I down to Tempe for the "Livers of Steel" Tour aka the most fun I've had in the Valley in a long time. Three of my favorite groups (Wade Bowen, Micky & The Motorcars, & Reckless Kelly) all in one night was like a mini Braun Brothers Reunion all over again. To escape the miserable desert heat, Kristin and I went skating at Oceanside. After that, we headed back to the hotel to change clothes and get ready for the concert. They were playing at an unusual (but gorgeous) venue for them, the Tempe Center for the Arts.
After eating dinner, we walked along the walkway for as long as we could stand the late afternoon desert sun beating down on us...I think we lasted about 15 minutes! The view was beautiful though. Tempe Center for the Arts is located right along Tempe Town Lake.
After eating dinner, we walked along the walkway for as long as we could stand the late afternoon desert sun beating down on us...I think we lasted about 15 minutes! The view was beautiful though. Tempe Center for the Arts is located right along Tempe Town Lake.
The concert was amazing...these guys are great musicians. They somehow manage to get better every time I see them! We ended up hanging out with some of them after the show...it was great getting to know them a little bit better. They're so nice and it was awesome to go out on Mill Avenue with them!
The last couple of weeks in town were great. It was bittersweet to leave, but I knew I'd be back over Christmas, so only a few more months!! It was so wet and green in Flag when I left...hopefully there will be a lot of snow and I'll come home to a white winter wonderland!!!
10.9.12
New beginnings
It's been almost a week since I signed the teaching contract with Maximo Nivel. I've asked what seems like a thousand questions to the director, a new co-worker, the BridgeTEFL program advisors, and my Tico friends Andrés and Pridian. All of them have been great with dealing with these questions, and Pridian even offered to drive me places, help me find an apartment, and go with me to buy a phone.
I really couldn't ask for much better right now. I'm still riding an amazing high that I hope won't go away for a long time. I don't think leaving my tutoring job at CCC will be that difficult, and even my co-workers at the rink won't be that hard to say goodbye too, even though I love all of them. Even saying bye to my parents won't be too bad...I will cry leaving my figure skating family, and I'm dreading it. I've been skating with most of them for at least five years and a lot of them I've grown really close to. The students I teach will be really hard to leave, as well as my Literacy Center family. They've given me so many amazing opportunities (especially the executive director, Carynn) to grow as a teacher and I don't know if I can ever thank them enough for everything they've done for me. My students there have been amazing as well, and I'll definitely be sad the last class...I had one learner come up to me the other day and say that there won't be anyone that can replace me.
That statement is why I teach...I've always wanted to change people's lives in a positive way, and right now I feel like this new chapter is exactly what I need. Despite the misgivings, doubts, sadness, and nervous feelings that I have right now, the excitement of the unknown outweighs all of them. I remember crying on the flight home from Costa Rica 4 1/2 years ago, and now I get the opportunity to go back and fulfill what I struggled so hard to achieve with my bachelor's degree.
I really couldn't ask for much better right now. I'm still riding an amazing high that I hope won't go away for a long time. I don't think leaving my tutoring job at CCC will be that difficult, and even my co-workers at the rink won't be that hard to say goodbye too, even though I love all of them. Even saying bye to my parents won't be too bad...I will cry leaving my figure skating family, and I'm dreading it. I've been skating with most of them for at least five years and a lot of them I've grown really close to. The students I teach will be really hard to leave, as well as my Literacy Center family. They've given me so many amazing opportunities (especially the executive director, Carynn) to grow as a teacher and I don't know if I can ever thank them enough for everything they've done for me. My students there have been amazing as well, and I'll definitely be sad the last class...I had one learner come up to me the other day and say that there won't be anyone that can replace me.
That statement is why I teach...I've always wanted to change people's lives in a positive way, and right now I feel like this new chapter is exactly what I need. Despite the misgivings, doubts, sadness, and nervous feelings that I have right now, the excitement of the unknown outweighs all of them. I remember crying on the flight home from Costa Rica 4 1/2 years ago, and now I get the opportunity to go back and fulfill what I struggled so hard to achieve with my bachelor's degree.
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