Bring on the Bling

Monday, January 6, 2014

The Beginning of The End!

Today marks the last "first day of school" for me in Utah! I'm so excited/nervous. I'm currently enrolled in LING 5813 (capstone) and German 102. Here's a quick rundown of what I'm going to school for:

I was initially enrolled in the Linguistics Master's Degree program here at the University of Utah, but decided that I didn't want a Master's Degree. The idea of getting a TESOL certificate was much more appealing to me, on many levels. I won't go into too much detail, but my reasons are mine alone. TESOL stands for "Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages." It is equivalent to the TEF-L certificate and is internationally recognized and required for most/all ESL programs. I want to teach English and this is my ticket! Well, that plus a degree in History and a CBEST certificate from CA help!

My current dream is to finish the program and apply for a job at Disney English in China. I would just love to be back working at Disney in a completely different capacity than before. Disney owns about 11 schools in China that teach English to kids in Elementary school. From what I hear, the process is pretty quick, so I don't want to apply until I actually have the certificate and my passport in hand!



One of the requirements for obtaining the TESOL at the U is to take a beginning level foreign language class. This helps TESOL students become more aware of what our future students will be experiencing. I chose to take German, and I have loved every minute of it! I enjoy the language, my professor, the culture, and the idea that I might be going to Germany this year. I got a 95% in my German 101 class last year and learned that the U has a great study abroad program in Kiel, Germany. I have been seriously considering applying for the program, but have some concerns. I have spoken with a few friends/colleagues who have done a study abroad program and loved it. They have nothing but good things to say, which is heartening. I know it is the experience of a lifetime and I won't regret going. The struggle I am having is that the program will cost around $3800, which is more than what I've paid for tuition for the last 3 semesters. Also, the study abroad would be for fun: I will have obtained my TESOL and will no longer be registering for classes. I would get credits for German 201 and 202. I think I'll just start applying for scholarships and see if I can even get in to the program first and then worry about the rest later. Yeah, that seems awesome enough for me!
Kiel, Germany

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