Hey! Meet Megan!
I got to experience her leadership skills firsthand when she was president of our college a cappella group…
But life has taken us quite far apart since rehearsals in our dorm’s lounge. After getting her degree in education, Megan accepted a job teaching in Guatemala. She took some time to tell us how she found her program, why she decided to take the leap and move to a country never been to and why, 3 years later, she hasn’t looked back! If you wonder where a degree in education can take you, look through Megan’s story!
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1.Why Guatemala? Can you tell us about the process of finding international employment?
I got the international teaching bug when I first studied abroad in Namibia, Africa for university. I loved learning about and immersing myself in a new culture, meeting new people, and being able to do what I love (teach and learn) while also being able to travel. From that experience, I knew that I wanted to teach abroad.
During our senior year of college, my friend Jess and I started researching international schools and the process for getting hired. I knew that I wanted to go somewhere Spanish speaking since I wanted to become fluent. Because of that, I limited myself to Central and South America. There are so many ways to get in touch with international schools, but the most effective way is through search agencies. The three main ones that I used were Search Associates, ISS, and AASSA. AASSA focuses specifically on Central and South America so I chose that agency. The other two agencies included schools from the rest of the world as well. When I search for a new school, I’ll most likely use one of those agencies.
The hiring season for international schools is early, so in December of my senior year, I flew to the AASSA job fair. Applicants walk from booth to booth giving their resumes to directors and try to get interviews. After these initial conversations (in-person and online), interviews happen for the rest of the weekend. You’ll either receive offers or be asked for more interviews. So after 3 days, 7 interviews, 2 offers, and immeasurable networking (the international teaching community is tiny!), I came away with an elementary teaching job from Colegio Maya in Guatemala!
I chose Colegio Maya because I loved the vision of the school, the feeling I got when I interviewed with the director, the testimonials from teachers I reached out to, and the way they were “doing education.” Our motto at Colegio Maya is “Catch the Spirit!” I certainly caught it in my interviews at the job fair and I still have it to this day.
I chose my international job based on the school and how I felt with its vision. I looked for qualities of a school first, but I know of other people who looked specifically for “awesome” countries and found their schools as a second.
2. What was your greatest fear / hesitation before moving?
One of my main worries about moving abroad was the thought of what I would be missing out on back home. I had my whole “life plan” figured out and now I was going to throw a wrench in it and move to a completely different country. The realization that helped me move past that worry was that this was actually the perfect time to move abroad! I had no car loan, no house payments, no “roots” keeping me somewhere;
I was free to make this decision for ME and not worry about anything else.
If I had waited a couple years, who knows where I would be or how my life would have changed? I might not have been in a position to move abroad anymore. Even though I was scared to leave, I knew this was the perfect time for me.
I was also concerned with the time commitment and the worry of not living up to expectations. Most international school contracts are two years because they invest a lot into their teachers (some flights, housing stipends, etc). I would be making a commitment to live in an unknown country for at least two years.
After I accepted my job in Guatemala, I actually didn’t do much research about the country. I didn’t want to cloud my judgement with negative online opinions nor make my expectations too great. Instead, I reached out to the teachers to ask them questions and share their own thoughts about Guatemala.
Of course, some things didn’t thrill me once I moved there, but so many other things exceeded whatever expectations I could have had. Guatemala’s natural beauty is breathtaking, Guatemalans are some of the kindest and most welcoming people I’ve met, and the culture/history is intriguing to learn about. I’ll be in Guatemala for at least four years, so I guess the two year commitment wasn’t too bad!
3.What things do you look forward to most during the week?
International teaching can sometimes feel a little lonely so it’s important to find a community of people in and out of your job. It’s always a highlight to meet up with people, plan trips to new places, or simply spend time together. I think it’s also nice to have a sense of familiarity with your friends when you’re living in a different country. Many teachers from neighboring international schools will create social gatherings where we can mingle and get to know each other. This makes the international community stronger.
Another thing I look forward to each week is my choir practice. It took me two years to find and join a choir, and I’m so happy I did it! When I’m at choir, I can forget about my work life for a while and do my own thing. When you live abroad, it is necessary to find a community outside of your job. In the choir I’m able to make different relationships, do something that I love, and practice my Spanish. Finding a place in a different country where you can show your passion makes living abroad so much better.
4. Where do you hope this experience will you take you?
The joy about being an international teacher is that I constantly have two things push me forward: my teaching career and my love of travel. For travel, I hope this experience will allow me to continue exploring new parts of the world. I started thinking about living abroad while I was in Africa, realized how life-changing these experiences could be while I was in Central America, and now, looking to my future, I get to ask myself, “Where to next??” I never thought I would be traveling this much, but I love the change in direction my life has had. Hopefully I’ll even reach my goal of visiting all seven continents before I’m 30!
I am also lucky to be a school that challenges the status quo and motivates me to become an even better teacher. International schools usually give their teachers more freedom and are more educationally progressive. Because of that, I am able to explore current educational ideas and philosophies, and adapt my teaching practices to those models. With these new experiences, I know I’ll be able to go anywhere in the world to continue my international teaching adventure.
5. Any advice for those looking to move abroad?
If you have the chance, you NEED to move abroad at least once in your life! It is such a life-changing, life-evolving, and life-creating experience. I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. There’s so much advice for moving abroad, but two main things come to mind.
- Get to know your new country/home by immersing yourself with locals and by learning the language. I know that it’s difficult and uncomfortable being out of your comfort zone, but it makes your time in that new country more real. Along with getting to know local people and immersing yourself in the culture of your country, it is also important to find something else to do with your time besides your job/reason why you moved abroad. At least for international schools, your colleagues become your friends, roommates, partners, and even your second family. That is wonderful to have immediate friends, but it’s also necessary to have a friend group outside of your job. For me, it’s my choir friends. I love the relationships I have created and love learning about Guatemala from new people. For others, it’s a volleyball team or even a dog-walking group. Find that group and cherish it!
- For spring break, my friend and I went to Nicaragua. So many “not good” travel things happened: we missed our flight and went from a one hour non-stop to being stuck in airports and traveling for over 24 hours, missed a day in Nicaragua, left things in hostels, and even got on the wrong public bus and had no idea where we were. These experiences could have ruined the trip for us, but they didn’t. We tried to find the positive. When we boarded the correct public bus, we ran into another guy we met on our trip. After we told him our story of bus mishaps, he responded, “There’s no such thing as a wrong bus.” That is so unbelievably true! Yes, all of these “not good” things happened while we were traveling, but we also got to explore Panama as a new country, meet friends, receive travel credit, and spend quality time with each other. Traveling and living abroad will NEVER go as planned. You might be a long way from home, the language might be harder to learn than imagined, your job might not be the best, or you might not like certain parts of the culture. As long as you make the most of whatever situation you have and find the positive, you’ll never be on the “wrong bus.”
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