In 2009 I moved to South Korea to teach English. I was living in Florida and trying to become a teacher. The economy was terrible, and most districts were not hiring new teachers. So, I took off for the first place I could find where I could teach, South Korea.

Using a recruiter I found online, she helped me secure a job with Avalon (a franchise chain all over Korea). Within in a few months I was on my way to the Atlanta airport to fly to Seoul. Eventually I made my way to Daegu where I would spend the next 3 years teaching.

Korea is where I found my love of teaching. I made some great friends, several of I still talk to today. It was a time that really allowed me to get to know myself better. I was forced into many uncomfortable situations, but in each one I learned more about myself. I was still a bit hot headed and showed it too often. That is something I look back on and realize I needed to be put in that environment (mostly at work with a terrible boss) for me to grow as a person and a leader.

Korea will always be a favorite place of mine. I have so many fond memories of fun times, great people, and adventures galore. It also showed me my passion for teaching. I just knew after a few years I did not want to teach English but something I was more passionate about. That is what led me to move back to the U.S. to get certified to teach history.

My initial goal was to teach in the US for 2 years and then move back overseas. I loved being an expat and traveling around meeting new people and learning new cultures. That did not wind up happening even though I had an opportunity to go back to Korea after 2 years in the States. However, it just wasn’t the right fit for me, and I stayed here in Texas.

Perhaps the best thing I learned in Korea was how we are all very similar. We may live differently, but in the end, we are all just people trying to make our way through this world in our own way. That is one of the reasons I love taking students overseas. They get to experience and see for themselves just how similar we all are. We may speak a different language, but we are all the same in the end.

I got into education late in life (in my 30s when I moved to Korea), but it has been the best decision I’ve ever made. And now that I am teaching something I am passionate about, I hope that passion will inspire one or two of you to seek out more history in your life.