Okay, so this should have been written and posted months ago, but....
As most of you know I did not take the opportunity in Romania. It was offered and I could possibly see myself returning to something with them sometime in the future. There were two things holding me back... I really feel called to TEACH ELLs and the work in Romania would have been almost entirely office based. To raise $10-15K is a lot of work in a short time and I was instead offered a position that pays me a living stipend.
Many of you do not know what I ended up doing instead. In the short period between when I returned from the visit to Romania and when I had to give them an answer I was introduced to the idea of working as an AmeriCorps member. The position is with the Literacy Center of West Michigan and I am an ELL instructor.
Two days a week I teach parents of the students at a local elementary school. On our team we currently have five instructors and two support staff. We want to grow our team because we have 8 schools we serve in. We each have two classes that meet twice a week. My classes meet Monday and Tuesday both in the morning and in the evening. It makes for a very long start to the week, but then I can relax as the week progresses.
Due to the fact that this position is with AmeriCorps I have a number of benefits including an education award at the end of my term that will either be a large payment on my current loans or a large down payment on future schooling. They also encourage professional development so I was able to attend two ESL conferences last weekend. I learned a lot and did a lot of networking.
As a side opportunity to help supplement my income I have decided to return to being a Mary Kay consultant! I love their products and have used them since I was 14 or 15 years old. I have a very supportive team and they are encouraging me to do great things for myself and enriching the lives of others around me :) If you are local you should save the date for November 5th as I will be debuting my career as a MK consultant at a women's Diva Night. Connect with me if you want more information.
My days are filled to the max and I have been horrible at connecting with the outside world so I apologize if you feel neglected.
