Where the Journey begins.......

During my 2nd to last semester at Western Michigan University (September 2011-December 2011), I interned at Galesburg Augusta Primary School in Galesburg, Michigan in a Preschool classroom. Part of the requirement  for this Internship was to attend a seminar class on Western's campus. One day, I walked into class and was surprised to see that we had a guest speaker. He was walking around to the tables passing out brochures and having friendly interactions with the students in our class. I sat down and began to browse through the brochure. It was for a school called Morgan Rothschild Academy. The brochure was colorful and exciting and frankly, quite impressive, and I found myself very intrigued. That is, until I flipped the brochure all the way over and saw the the address to the school was in SHANGHAI, CHINA!!!

To be honest with you, my first thought was essentially this: "There is no way that this nice man is going to get anyone in this room to agree to move to China to teach! He is wasting his time! I hope his presentation isn't too boring." Some of this I may have said out loud to my table mates. So, moving on, he gives his presentation and by the end of it, it was like a switch had flipped inside of me. Now, I'm not saying that I was ready to agree to move to China right then. No, not at all. Not by any means. BUT, I have to say that what he had to say made a lot of sense and it really stuck with me. I couldn't shake the idea and found myself thinking about many, many times over the next few months. And talking about it. And thinking some more. 

I still very specifically remember a thought that popped into my head as I was sitting at my table after the presentation: "I don't know if this is an option unless I apply for it." This thought guided my steps over the next few months. I put off applying for quite awhile because I was so busy with school stuff (considering it was my last year of my college career). Over time, I realized that if I was going to take this opportunity seriously, I really needed to stop putting it off and apply. And that's what I did. It lead to a phone interview, and eventually to a job offer!!! I honestly did not believe that I would be offered the job (I'm not sure why, but I guess I didn't want to believe that I could be so lucky). 

So, that was in March, and before I even graduated from college, I had a job! What a blessing :). Now that I am graduated, everything I do now is in preparation to move to China! I will be living in Shanghai and teaching Preschoolers at Morgan Rothschild Academy. There will also be 4 other teachers from America and I am very much looking forward to getting to know them. All of my lessons will be in English (thank the Lord) and I will be teaching the same curriculum that I would here in the States (reading, writing, math, etc). It is a fantastic opportunity and I am SO excited!!! And, obviously, slightly terrified. Every step of this process, I kept telling myself that I can't let my fear of the unknown stop me from taking part in an experience that will make me a better teacher and a better person. I'm jumping in with both feet and I can't wait to see what happens! :)