How It All Started

As many people know I am kind of a home body. My dad is always pushing me do more and not to settle. He has been trying to get me interested in teaching/ living out of Utah for years but I never have been. In June of 2013, my Dad interviewed a teacher who was returning from Qatar. This guy and his wife had lived and taught there for a couple a years and loved it. My dad came home and told me that I should do that. I told him that would NEVER happen!

The 2013-2014 was pretty rough, I taught in a Chinese Immersion program and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I took the job in the Chinese program because I had started to get bored teaching and wanted a new challenge. It was a challenge alright but I still wasn't happy. I started looking at other jobs in the Valley but didn't see one that I liked more that the one I had. Then one right I was flipping through the channels and started watching a show about moving to Hawaii. It hit me that I should move somewhere crazy far. So I looked in to Hawaii and Alaska but I decided that if I was going to do this I should go all the way and teach internationally.

I did lots of research on the Internet, found and joined an international teaching recruitment agency called Search Associates. I had to fill out all kinds of questions and references and background checks. I was accepted by Search Associates in November of 2013. I started contacting schools on the website to find a job. At first I wanted to go to Europe or someplace tropical but then decided I wanted to go Asia mostly China, Hong Kong, or Singapore. I even had a Skype interview for a school in China but I never heard back from them.

Then in February of 2014 I flew to San Fransisco for a job fair hosted by Search Associates. It was held in a huge hotel. There were 300 people there trying for jobs and 150 schools there hiring. They put us all in a huge conference room with the principals/recruiters at tables on the outsides and the teachers all running around in the middle. Then we all had papers and we went to the tables of the schools we wanted to interview at. We had 30 seconds to a minute to get an interview scheduled for the next day. It was kind of like Speed Dating but more stressful. I scheduled 9 interviews. However, while I was running around getting interviews one principal stopped me and gave me job offer right there. (We had interview earlier that day.) It was only a verbal offer and he didn't give me many details but I really liked him. It was an offer for Kuwait.

So the next day I ran around interviewing for school all over, China, Thailand, Kuwait, Abu Dabi, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt and Korea. So some of the schools I was interested in and some of the schools had pursued me and I just went out of curiosity.  I went thinking I wanted to be in Singapore or Hong Kong and maybe China. I kept an open mind about the Middle East because you can make a lot of money. By 5 o'clock I had 4 written job offers. One from Abu Dabi from a school out in the middle of the desert. Two from Kuwait, one was the verbal one I had gotten earlier and the other was my favorite that was the top offer. The fourth was from a newer school in Al Wakra, Qatar.  Now I was hopping to leave with a job honestly I was completely floored, shocked and awed that I had 4 job offers in a matter of hours. I didn't really have time to be in shock though because my favorite offer the one from Kuwait needed a decision by 6:00 that night so I only had ONE HOUR to make to major decision. (That was how the job fair worked, offers went out fast and you had to be prepared to answer fast!)

So I prayed a lot and talked to parents a lot and we all went on the Internet and looked and looked. I narrowed it down to a 5th grade position at an American School in Kuwait, that was a lot like mine in Utah. They used the same reading and math programs, they were an AP school so the end goal was the same as how I grew up it would be an easy transition. Half the kids in the school were American and everyone spoke English no problem. Then there was the School on Qatar, I would teach 3rd grade but only have to teach math and Science (my favorites). They were also using the same math program. All the kids are Qatari but they all know English as a second language. It also paid better and the country was safer.  I remember my mom asked me if I wanted to go abroad and go to McDonald's (the American School with American kids and books) or did I want to try something a little more authentic! So I went for it. Go big right? And the of course it felt right, it is what I am supposed to do. So I am.

Sorry this is so long but if you know me you know I never can tell a short story. Next time I will tell you about my school.