If I could relive one favorite period of my life, it would be the spring of 1989. As a student at the University of Wisconsin, I spent a semester abroad, but not a traditional semester. I participated in Semester at Sea (SAS), a University of Pittsburgh program with about 600 students and 25 professors living on a huge ship and cruising around the world. We visited 15 countries in over four months. Before SAS, I had never left the United States, where I had grown up. The countries I visited were: Bahamas, Spain, Yugoslavia, Singapore, China, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. This course changed my life.
Before SAS, I had dreamed of becoming a journalist. I still finished my degree in journalism from UW, but I became more open to new possibilities. When I graduated, I accepted a job teaching English in Japan. It was so wonderful to learn a new language, and my experience in Japan led to my realization that I wanted to be a language teacher. But which language should I teach?? At that point, I only knew one language well enough: English! So, I decided to return to school and get my Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota. After finishing that, I moved to Guatemala and taught at an international school for a year. Then, I moved back to Minneapolis and taught ESL for Osseo Public School District. However, I still had an urge to live abroad. So, after two years in Osseo, I moved back to Asia, and taught ESL and English at International Schools in Japan and China.
As a student, my favorite teacher was Mr. Regina, a high school English teacher. The funny thing is that he taught one of my least favorite subjects: GRAMMAR!! But when I think about that, it tells me what a wonderful teacher he must have been to be able to help me to learn about and even enjoy a topic I didn’t even like. What a genius!
• I like Open School because I have never seen such positive staff-student interaction in any other school.
• My worst (and best?) habit is my addiction to travel.
• Besides teaching, I have earned my living by scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins when I was in high school.
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