Before I get into how I came to be an English teacher and Reach the World traveler, I first need to backtrack and tell you how I fell in love with studying abroad and traveling. When I was sixteen, in my junior year of high school, I was given the opportunity to study abroad for the year in Rennes, France through a program called School Year Abroad (SYA). There, I learned the French language (all my classes were in French!) and lived with a host family, which allowed me to be fully immersed in the country’s culture. After this experience, I knew. I had the travel bug. As soon as I returned for my senior year of high school, I enrolled in a Mandarin (the main dialect of Chinese) course (in addition to my French class), hoping that with another language under my belt, my understanding of its country of origin would be more profound.
I had the chance to broaden my knowledge of the Chinese language and culture during my junior year of college. In the fall of 2016, I studied abroad in Hangzhou, China with Middlebury College’s Starr School language program. I took a language pledge, meaning I could only speak in the target language (Mandarin) during my time there. I also roomed with a local Chinese student, who ended up being one of my best friends. We still keep in touch even though it has been years since we’ve last seen each other. Though the language pledge was certainly a challenge, I’m so glad I overcame it because I came out on the other side with a deeper appreciation for China, its people, its language and its traditions. It was after this experience that I knew I wanted to return to China and to continue my study of its culture. In my opinion, the best way to learn it is to live it!
Now fast forward to the present day.
