Step 1: Getting Back
to Y.O.U. (Your Own Unfilled Promises)
So you say you have always wanted to travel, teach abroad,
and see the world. This is what you say. Ever since you went on your last
vacation to the Caribbean, or visited your family in some foreign country, or
took the road with some friends on a spontaneous backpacking journey, you
promised yourself that you would come home and start saving because you really
enjoy traveling. Then you met someone who told you that they have taught in
South Korea or if you live in the Washington DC area, you have met all the
recent graduate non-profit workers who volunteered with disabled children at a
camp in some far away land. Either way, one of these things peaked your
curiosity, and you thought about how cool of an experience that was. But, you
never thought it could be YOU.
But, yes it can be you. No you don’t have to volunteer in a
village in India, Nicaragua or Kenya. You can actually do anything that you
want to do, in any part of the world. You just have to be true to yourself. I have
heard that phrase before, but it didn’t really understand the depth of that
until last January.
I have known that I wanted to teach abroad since June of
2008. I always had it in the back
of head, but from time to time, my passion for the unknown and the need to get
away would creep back up on me, usually as I was tired and driving to my second
job.
In January of 2012, per recommendation by a sister, I
created a list of things that I wanted in the year and what things would be
unacceptable for me. Unacceptable for me was still being in the DMV by August.
I was determined to go to either Venezuela or Panama, practice my Spanish, and
explore. When the first
opportunity didn’t work out, I started working on my plan B, which was Panama.
Plan B, to date, has been a blessing. Everything happens the way it does for a
reason.
Without being “true to myself,” I would have never been able
to take this step. I had to first accept that fact that I was not comfortable
with the way I was working, I adored both of populations that I was serving at
both of my jobs as a youth development worker for county recreation and as a
call specialist on a hotline assisting victims of human trafficking; yet, I
wasn’t totally fulfilled and happy about where I was in my life.
When Plan A didn’t work out, I started on plan B right away.
I made the decision to register for the TEFL class. I couldn’t really afford it
but was willing to make the sacrifice. I stayed home for about a month just being
broke. But when the class started, I felt like I was getting back to myself. I
love learning actually. Most importantly, I knew that I was actually taking a
REAL step towards doing what I wanted to do. I was listening to my heart.
Next, I started researching the teaching market for English
teachers in Panama and possible job opportunities. Though, I had my heart set
on Panama, I still made sure to consider many other teaching locations and
opportunities including South Korea, Costa Rica, Indonesia, to name a few. But
since Spanish was important to me, I narrowed it down to Spanish speaking
countries. I knew that I wanted to be in Central America because of the
tropical weather. Wasn’t quite ready to make it back down to South America yet.
I also knew that I wanted to be in a place that was thriving and safe. Based on
the little research that I found, it seemed like Panama had a good economy,
demand for English teachers, and lots of places to see! Panama was a go.
Find out what steps I took before leaving after I decided on
Panama. This next blog post is the how-to on teaching abroad, basically, before
you leave! Stay tuned. You even learn while riding on Bee’s Backseat! :)
