Death by Cubicle - Send Me Overseas to Teach English PLEASE!

Tarah P Start Date: Jan 8, 2018 - End Date: Sep 10, 2018
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • TEFL/Teach Abroad
  • Prague, Czechia
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Lisbon, Portugal
  • Madrid, Spain
  • Heredia Province, Costa Rica
  • Crete, Greece
  • Sardinia, Italy
  • St Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Thailand
  • Canary Islands, Spain
  • Australia
  • Hungary
  • Austria
  • Germany
  • France

My Travel Story

by: Tarah P Start Date: Jan 8, 2018 - End Date: Sep 10, 2018
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • TEFL/Teach Abroad

I love spicy food. I love to run. I grew up on a farm in the middle of Minnesota. I love animals of every kind. I am a twin. I enjoy pampering myself when I can. I absolutely love to fish (thanks to my Dad). I reconsider and return-to-shelf nearly all of my potential purchases when I reach the register (I know, it's very annoying to me too). I'm frugal. I feel that experiences are always much greater than things. Travel is the only thing you can buy that truly makes you richer ♥ 

I've always felt that there is something greater..that good will come if I am patient. Well I'm now 27 years old and joy of the day-to-day has become fleeting and circumstantial. Don't get me wrong, I love to travel (mostly domestic + Iceland, Ireland, Denmark, Mexico), but each time I return to the same mind-numbing job, one that sounds and looks great on paper but I'm quite certain a highly trained monkey can pull it off. The people around me will never leave and think I've gone absolutely nuts when I talk about leaving Minnesota, my family (my twin sister!), and my home. Selling my car (!). My youthful, free-spirited and spritely self is gone. Of course they don't understand. I am stuck in a cubicle that will inevitably be the death of me.

I want to be happy in a career that inspires me, as well as being happy with and by myself - while doing something positive for others. I don't believe that I have any idea who I am anymore. This is why I have decided, with my degree in English/Communication and my desire for Spanish fluency (I have a solid base knowledge of the language already!), I am ready to pack and up leave for overseas to teach adults and children alike, a great skill that I too often take for granted.. That is to speak English. In order to do so, I'll need to take a 5-week course to become TEFL certified (with flights), which is where my desire for financial assistance comes into play.

I'm a natural when it comes to teaching and have always found it endearing and fulfilling. In retrospect, I would have loved to pursue a degree in teaching and I didn't realize there was still an option until my friend approached me with this idea to teach English abroad. I would be able to explore new cultures, learn about new foods (I'm an excellent cook!), better understand different, unique cultural experiences and get to know this world first-hand. I'd love to step outside of my normal cultural routine of narrow-minded Midwesterns (please don't hate me for saying that) and uncover a refreshing and great educational opportunity. All of us in some way or another seek knowledge to grow ourselves and share with others. Personally, I feel that sharing my education and experiences with children would be one of the greatest feelings in the world. Albeit, I may not be able to fully speak with many of my future students, I feel that I can inspire them to learn English and explore the world. I would be honored, not just to teach them English, but to represent it to them. Without me (or you for that matter!), English may just be something they see on a test. 

I read somewhere recently, "Your possibilities are immense. You only need to decide and take the first step." I'm finally ready to take that step.

If you have a great idea for my destination, do tell! I'd love to share a photojournal of this endeavor with you as well! I'm open to any opportunity and this will be my greatest one yet - very scary, but sure to be rewarding.

As Mark Twain said, “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Please help me become an expat!

  • Prague, Czechia
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Lisbon, Portugal
  • Madrid, Spain
  • Heredia Province, Costa Rica
  • Crete, Greece
  • Sardinia, Italy
  • St Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Thailand
  • Canary Islands, Spain
  • Australia
  • Hungary
  • Austria
  • Germany
  • France