Before getting into the heart of this blog, I need to explain what Blogger Challenge is. A returned Peace Corps Volunteer has started a challenge for current volunteers to improve/continue writing blogs with weekly prompts. I found out about it late, and am totally behind, but really appreciate some of the topics. So, I’m just participating so that you can read about some of the prompts. If you are interested check out their website (google Blogger Challenge) and you should be able to read blogs from Peace Corps Volunteers all around the world!
So, prompt #1: Why are you abroad? What led you to pursue your current adventure?
I don’t know when my love for maps and traveling started. Maybe when I was six months old and got my first passport. I do remember moving from Colorado to Oregon which seemed like a long trip to a 5 and a half year old. My elementary school had a state map painted on the playground in various colors that I would play on for hours. When I was in fourth grade I distinctly remember being fascinated with maps. My teacher had lived abroad, and that intrigued me. By sixth grade I was set on traveling and teaching in Eastern Africa, which was reinforced in my 8th grade autobiography project. Teaching and living abroad was always my goal.
My freshmen year of high school I had an “I-search project” in English class. The premise was to connect research to personal interest in a meaningful way throughout the semester when our student teacher took over the class. One of my friends had never been to the zoo so she was focusing on that. Another was fascinated in aviation and he was a bundle of airplane facts. I wanted to do something meaningful if I was going to spend so much time working on this project (I don’t remember the exact specifics, but it was a large part of our grades). But what was meaningful enough?
I remember sitting at my dark, walnut desk under my loft bed trying to decide on an idea. It was my last piece of homework for the night. We had to present a paragraph (or something) giving reasons to our teacher why we had chosen the topic and how it connected to us personally. Instead of finding something interesting that I could connect to, I was just boiling up in frustration. Deciding I should take a break, I went into the tv room where my brothers and Dad were watching a baseball game. I was hoping the distraction would give me an idea.
I never saw the game. Instead I watched a commercial where beautifully dark skinned, wide-round eyed, kids smiled at me. It was probably an ad urging donations, but all I heard in my brain was “That’s what I want you to do.” I’ve tried to explain how I heard that, but nothing seems adequate. Was it my imagination? Was it God? Instead of explaining my reasoning, I took it and ran. My research paper, “A Journey Without Smiles,” focused on the HIV/AIDS outbreak in Eastern Africa and how it was directly affecting children my age and younger. It was the start of my obsession and focus of children in this corner of the globe.
While college buddies changed their majors, I stuck with the same educational track I enrolled in as a freshman, realizing education was more for me then medical tracks. Even though I had had 3 years of Spanish in high school, I dedicated a year to learning French (a common Africa language) which didn’t stick and was relieved to take a year of Swahili instead. While others were focusing on the key subjects of math, science or English, I was pursuing teaching English language learners (pre-kindergarten to 12th grade certified) and getting endorsed in writing and reading as well. Elementary Education allowed me to study all subjects up to grade 8 instead of focusing on just one. Towards the end of my sophomore year of college I saw a flyer to travel abroad for Jan Term and Spring Semesters to Tanzania hanging on a bulletin board near the drinking fountains. By then I was enrolled and engrossed in Whitworth’s School of Education’s rigorous practicum-filled programs. I was originally told that I couldn’t go on the trip and graduate in four years; however, after lots of rearranging and agreeing to take a summer biology class at a community college, I was soon on my first real trip to East Africa.
The one-month internship/practicum part way through the trip teaching 3rd graders with nothing but a chalkboard, opened my eyes to what it means to be an adaptable, flexible and positive teacher. I came back to the states eager to finish my undergrad degree and head out again. When I graduated I was in correspondence with the Head Mistress of the school I had worked at and trying to figure out a way for me return. However, plans fell through, as I never heard back about details needed to get a visa, and I was left living in Pennsylvania with my parents.
My mom wisely told me to “open as many doors as you can and pray that God closes the ones you aren’t meant to enter.” As the state of Pennsylvania requires substitutes to have a Pennsylvanian teaching license, I applied for various jobs back in Spokane, Washington and flew back to live with Grandparents where my teaching license was valid. Before leaving for the Northeast I also applied to Peace Corps, unsure what would happen with it. When I got to Spokane I had a couple of interviews, but ended up only having substitute teaching left open as the school year got underway. In mid-November, I got a called asking for an interview for Peace Corps. While they thought I was still in Pennsylvania, we quickly worked out details that I could do the interview when I visited parents for Christmas break. I ended the interview knowing that Ethiopia was where they were currently looking for people with an educational degree to start a new program, but had submitted Tanzania as my first choice, Ethiopia as Second, and Uganda (?) as my third. I finished subbing, cutting the school year short to hangout with family and friends, and got packed to leave the Northwest on June 28th and arrive in Ethiopia on July 2nd. I am abroad because my childhood dreams of traveling and teaching abroad never wavered. I’m abroad because I believed my goal to be important and something I couldn’t quite explain adequately. I am abroad because I was always encouraged to pursue my dreams and supported when I did. I was led here by opening doors and allowing God to close all the ones He needed to in order to lead me to the right one.
My Own Complementary Prompt: What is next?
Teaching and living abroad has been my goal since I was in fourth grade. I have met children that I dreamed about for my freshmen paper, and visited places that I studied for various reasons. I’ve used my trainings my Whitworth diploma and teaching degree represent. So, now what do I do next? Is this something that I just check off as a dream accomplished or continue to pursue teaching abroad?
Towards the end of Disney’s “Tangled,” Rapunzel is finally able to see the floating lights, her life long dream. She asks Flynn, an outlaw who has helped her so far, what she is suppose to do next. He responses “Well that is the good thing about dreams. You can make a new one.” I’m like Rapunzel in that boat. I’m experiencing my life-long dream, but don’t know what my new one is…not yet anyway.
What I do know is that I’m going to follow my mom’s advice and open doors so that God can close the ones I’m not meant to go down. I can’t explain it adequately, but I feel like I need to go home for a while. I need to eat sour gummy worms with Philip, enjoy superhero movies with Thomas, paint nails with Mom, bike with Dad, sew with Grandma, watch the news with Grandpa and worship in church. My current thought is to apply for long term and substitute positions in Hermiston, Oregon and Spokane, Washington and see where God takes me for the next school year and beyond. I doubt I’m done teaching abroad, but we’ll see.
So, prompt #1: Why are you abroad? What led you to pursue your current adventure?
I don’t know when my love for maps and traveling started. Maybe when I was six months old and got my first passport. I do remember moving from Colorado to Oregon which seemed like a long trip to a 5 and a half year old. My elementary school had a state map painted on the playground in various colors that I would play on for hours. When I was in fourth grade I distinctly remember being fascinated with maps. My teacher had lived abroad, and that intrigued me. By sixth grade I was set on traveling and teaching in Eastern Africa, which was reinforced in my 8th grade autobiography project. Teaching and living abroad was always my goal.
My freshmen year of high school I had an “I-search project” in English class. The premise was to connect research to personal interest in a meaningful way throughout the semester when our student teacher took over the class. One of my friends had never been to the zoo so she was focusing on that. Another was fascinated in aviation and he was a bundle of airplane facts. I wanted to do something meaningful if I was going to spend so much time working on this project (I don’t remember the exact specifics, but it was a large part of our grades). But what was meaningful enough?
I remember sitting at my dark, walnut desk under my loft bed trying to decide on an idea. It was my last piece of homework for the night. We had to present a paragraph (or something) giving reasons to our teacher why we had chosen the topic and how it connected to us personally. Instead of finding something interesting that I could connect to, I was just boiling up in frustration. Deciding I should take a break, I went into the tv room where my brothers and Dad were watching a baseball game. I was hoping the distraction would give me an idea.
I never saw the game. Instead I watched a commercial where beautifully dark skinned, wide-round eyed, kids smiled at me. It was probably an ad urging donations, but all I heard in my brain was “That’s what I want you to do.” I’ve tried to explain how I heard that, but nothing seems adequate. Was it my imagination? Was it God? Instead of explaining my reasoning, I took it and ran. My research paper, “A Journey Without Smiles,” focused on the HIV/AIDS outbreak in Eastern Africa and how it was directly affecting children my age and younger. It was the start of my obsession and focus of children in this corner of the globe.
While college buddies changed their majors, I stuck with the same educational track I enrolled in as a freshman, realizing education was more for me then medical tracks. Even though I had had 3 years of Spanish in high school, I dedicated a year to learning French (a common Africa language) which didn’t stick and was relieved to take a year of Swahili instead. While others were focusing on the key subjects of math, science or English, I was pursuing teaching English language learners (pre-kindergarten to 12th grade certified) and getting endorsed in writing and reading as well. Elementary Education allowed me to study all subjects up to grade 8 instead of focusing on just one. Towards the end of my sophomore year of college I saw a flyer to travel abroad for Jan Term and Spring Semesters to Tanzania hanging on a bulletin board near the drinking fountains. By then I was enrolled and engrossed in Whitworth’s School of Education’s rigorous practicum-filled programs. I was originally told that I couldn’t go on the trip and graduate in four years; however, after lots of rearranging and agreeing to take a summer biology class at a community college, I was soon on my first real trip to East Africa.
The one-month internship/practicum part way through the trip teaching 3rd graders with nothing but a chalkboard, opened my eyes to what it means to be an adaptable, flexible and positive teacher. I came back to the states eager to finish my undergrad degree and head out again. When I graduated I was in correspondence with the Head Mistress of the school I had worked at and trying to figure out a way for me return. However, plans fell through, as I never heard back about details needed to get a visa, and I was left living in Pennsylvania with my parents.
My mom wisely told me to “open as many doors as you can and pray that God closes the ones you aren’t meant to enter.” As the state of Pennsylvania requires substitutes to have a Pennsylvanian teaching license, I applied for various jobs back in Spokane, Washington and flew back to live with Grandparents where my teaching license was valid. Before leaving for the Northeast I also applied to Peace Corps, unsure what would happen with it. When I got to Spokane I had a couple of interviews, but ended up only having substitute teaching left open as the school year got underway. In mid-November, I got a called asking for an interview for Peace Corps. While they thought I was still in Pennsylvania, we quickly worked out details that I could do the interview when I visited parents for Christmas break. I ended the interview knowing that Ethiopia was where they were currently looking for people with an educational degree to start a new program, but had submitted Tanzania as my first choice, Ethiopia as Second, and Uganda (?) as my third. I finished subbing, cutting the school year short to hangout with family and friends, and got packed to leave the Northwest on June 28th and arrive in Ethiopia on July 2nd. I am abroad because my childhood dreams of traveling and teaching abroad never wavered. I’m abroad because I believed my goal to be important and something I couldn’t quite explain adequately. I am abroad because I was always encouraged to pursue my dreams and supported when I did. I was led here by opening doors and allowing God to close all the ones He needed to in order to lead me to the right one.
My Own Complementary Prompt: What is next?
Teaching and living abroad has been my goal since I was in fourth grade. I have met children that I dreamed about for my freshmen paper, and visited places that I studied for various reasons. I’ve used my trainings my Whitworth diploma and teaching degree represent. So, now what do I do next? Is this something that I just check off as a dream accomplished or continue to pursue teaching abroad?
Towards the end of Disney’s “Tangled,” Rapunzel is finally able to see the floating lights, her life long dream. She asks Flynn, an outlaw who has helped her so far, what she is suppose to do next. He responses “Well that is the good thing about dreams. You can make a new one.” I’m like Rapunzel in that boat. I’m experiencing my life-long dream, but don’t know what my new one is…not yet anyway.
What I do know is that I’m going to follow my mom’s advice and open doors so that God can close the ones I’m not meant to go down. I can’t explain it adequately, but I feel like I need to go home for a while. I need to eat sour gummy worms with Philip, enjoy superhero movies with Thomas, paint nails with Mom, bike with Dad, sew with Grandma, watch the news with Grandpa and worship in church. My current thought is to apply for long term and substitute positions in Hermiston, Oregon and Spokane, Washington and see where God takes me for the next school year and beyond. I doubt I’m done teaching abroad, but we’ll see.
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