ASSIGNMENT 1: INTRODUCTION

[Codi Elliott]

Hi there! My name is Codi, I’m 28 years old, and throughout my life I’ve worked in a variety of roles, but tutoring has always stood out as one of my favorite experiences. It’s what helped me realize that I truly had a passion for teaching.
So, when I came across the opportunity to teach English in Thailand, I had to go for it! I’ve always been interested in Asian culture and have a genuine interest in learning more about different traditions and ways of life. Being able to immerse myself in a new culture while doing something I love feels like an opportunity I cannot refuse.
I know there will be challenges, especially when it comes to the language barrier and adjusting to cultural differences. But I’m committed to learning the language and finding ways to integrate myself into Thai society. I see this experience as a chance to grow personally and professionally, and I’m excited to live fully while pursuing something I’m truly passionate about!

[Sandra Touschner]

I keep getting notified of all the emails but I don’t want to. It looks like the only way I can stop is to post and uncheck the box.

[Imogen Nieper]

Hi! My name is Immy!
I am 23 and am from the UK. I studied Maths at Newcastle University and then did my PGCE in secondary education. I have now worked for two years teaching in London. I visited Thailand a few years ago and absolutely loved the country, culture, food and experience – which is why I now want to come back to Thailand and teach. I expect teaching in Thailand will be a very different experience to teaching in London so I am excited about the different challenges that I might face. I am excited to meet lots of new people, try lots of new food, and explore more of Thailand.

[Emilia Thornton]

Hi! I’m Emilia!
I’m 22 years old and from the UK. I recently graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Wildlife Conservation with Zoo Biology. During my time at university, I was fortunate enough to complete a three month placement in Thailand, living about an hour outside of Hua Hin. I absolutely fell in love with the people and the culture. I met some amazing individuals, and as soon as I left, I knew I wanted not only to return, but to live there and truly immerse myself in the Thai way of life.
So, when I saw the opportunity to not only live in Hua Hin but also do something meaningful and rewarding while being there, it felt like the perfect fit.
I know there will be many challenges, as I don’t have prior teaching experience and my Thai is very limited. However, I truly believe that teaching will be a rewarding experience, and that immersing myself in a new culture and embracing new experiences will help me grow in so many ways. I’m excited to begin this journey, not just to teach, but to learn as well!

[Alexia Joseph]

Hi everyone, I’m Lexi! I’m 24 years old and I’m from Utah in the United States. Travel has always been something that I’ve dreamed of doing, but I also love teaching, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me!
I expect to face many challenges during this time since everything is so new and different. I’ve always lived close to home so it’s going to be a hard adjustment to be in a new place where I don’t know anyone. I think I’ll be able to overcome this just by giving myself time to adjust and by meeting new friends! I have heard that Thailand is full of very kind and welcoming people so I’m sure I will feel very welcomed.
I am hoping to gain experience while I am there. Whether that be life experience, teaching experience, or something else. I think it will be a great opportunity for me to get to know myself a little more and to get to know the world a little more.

[Benney Peoples]

Hello, my name is Benney and I am from Texas and born and raised in Michigan of the USA. I have been in education for several years teaching from pre-k up to middle school students. I have a Bachelor’s in Social work. I’ve also worked as a social worker helping adults who fall under special needs. I enjoy working with children the most. I also have served in the military for 10 years .
I have decided to travel to Thailand because I love the culture and language. Having a new start to continue with personal growth. I love changing my surroundings to challenge
Any challenge that I could face is feeling guilty leaving my children and being alone without any family. One thing I have come to learn that whatever makes you uncomfortable is an area I need to face to overcome. I don’t like being to comfortable. I also think language barriers will also be an obstacle that can be overcome with patience and learning the language.
What I hope to gain from this experience is learning a new language . Also, making new friends and plus seeing the growth of the students I will be working with become confident in learning.

[Natalee Watson]

Hello! My name is Natalee- I was born in Jamaica I lived in the United States for over 30 years. I am currently completing my Bachelor’s in Health Information Management. I’m also a certified medical coder with a background in Provider Network Data Analyst. I’ve always wanted to visit Thailand and was constantly putting it off. Now that the opportunity has presented itself, what better time than now to fully experience and explore Thai culture. Teaching is something I’ve long considered, and I’m genuinely excited to begin this journey and gain hands on experience in the classroom. The only challenge I anticipate is getting acclimated to a new time schedule. See you soon Thailand!

[Daniel Whitfield]

Hello!
My Name is Daniel, I’m 21 years old and from the United States of America. I’ve lived mostly in Texas and have always lived within the U.S.A. I currently have an associate’s degree in arts with plans to expand my education once in Thailand. As I mentioned before one of the reasons I am going to work in Thailand is to further my education, but it is definitely not the only reason. I am very excited to explore and discover not only a new environment, but myself as well. I am also eager to share knowledge, culture, and experience with my students! A major challenge I feel most of us will face is missing friends and family but with modern technology the distance can feel substantially lessened. I hope that I will be able to inspire my students and make an impact on my community while they do the same for me.

[Diann Morrison]

My name is Diann Morrison, I am 57 years old, and I live in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, which is 3 hours north of Brisbane. I hold a Bachelor of Commerce. I have travelled overseas to a few countries and enjoyed this immensely making me want to explore more of the world. I have taught English before in Kathmandu in Nepal, to children and adult women, and found this extremely rewarding.
The main reasoning behind my decision to move to Thailand and teach English, besides the rewarding experience and giving back to the Thai people, is that I lost my partner last year to pancreatic cancer. This was a shock and showed me that life is just too short and precious to waste. I feel the teaching of English to Thai children will be my way of giving back to the universe for my life lived.
Hurdles I think I will experience are the language barrier and missing family. I believe this can be overcome with the learning of the language slowly and with help and support from my group of new friends and technology I will get through it.
I hope to gain from this experience, new friends, experiences, knowledge, better understanding of the Thai people and their culture. The experience of living and working in a different country will be awesome. I also hope to be able to give back, friendships, knowledge and my experiences and love to the Thai people.

[Blu Parker]

Hi everyone! My name is Blu. I was born and raised in the United States. I graduated from college with my bachelors in psychology in December and have been working as a registered behavior technician for children with autism since then. I plan to go back to school after this experience to my masters to become a BCBA to continue working with children with autism and other behavioral disabilities! I absolutely love traveling and have been all around the world. I most recently visited Iceland and that was an amazing experience.
I have decided to travel and teach in Thailand for the experience and I also hope to learn so much about the culture. I have always wanted to travel more with friends and this is the perfect opportunity to do so! I also believe it will greatly help me in my future career as working with children from different cultures and backgrounds is very difficult to do if you don’t understand it. That being said, I hope I have to opportunity to understand and immerse myself into the Thai culture as well as some of those around Thailand.
As I’ve been writing a lot about culture, I also believe this will be a huge challenge. I have never really spent that amount of time in another country and so living there, understanding what’s appropriate to do, say, wear in public without being rude or insensitive, commuting, the language barrier, etc. will all be challenges for me. I hope to overcome them by being willing to learn, doing research, and also practicing my Thai to be able to communicate with those around me!
At the end of this experience, I hope to gain a general understanding of Thai culture and more specifically how children in Thailand experience life. I want to be an amazing teacher for them and have the ability to teach them English in a way that keeps them engaged and having fun!

[Danielle Anderson]

Hi! My name is Danielle, and I am originally from Chicago, Illinois, but I just graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Rehabilitation Psychology. After studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Oslo, Norway, I found a passion for learning through international experiences. As someone who has always had an interest in teaching, I have decided to take a gap year to live and teach in Thailand! My father grew up traveling and working in South East Asia, so I am looking forward to having an experience of my own. I look forward to growing in my professional, personal, and cultural skills through this experience. I look forward to immersing myself in the rich culture Thailand has to offer!

As a recent grad who is embarking on this experience, I expect a few challenges to come along the way. First of all, I am moving to Thailand completely on my own, so I expect to experience some loneliness as I leave my family and friends behind in the United States. To overcome this, I plan to take advantage of connecting with as many other English Teachers and locals as possible to find a new community to lean on. Additionally, I expect adapting to a new culture and language to bring up some challenges. To overcome this, I plan to enter this experience with an open mind, a willingness to try new things, and a willingness to embrace discomfort!

Through this experience, I hope to gain a new sense of confidence when it comes to solo traveling and experiencing a new culture. I also hope to learn from my students, coworkers, peers, and experiences to become a more well-rounded, understanding, and culturally aware individual. I cannot wait to witness my growth throughout this experience!

[Tracey Corpe]

Hello, my name is Tracey, I’m 45 (and expecting to be the eldest in the group 😄). I have studied teacher training at a university in the midlands of England and hold a degree in Education Studies. I have visited Thailand several times, alongside Cambodia and Vietnam and I’m now ready to delve deeper into the Thai culture through the experiences that come along with a much longer visit.

I wish to engage in the programme to fulfill my desire to share my existing skills and experiences of teaching with those learners for which learning English will enhance life and future opportunities. Classroom management and high expectations of learners are my strengths, and although I have experience in teaching English, to teach English as a foreign language could prove the challenge I need for skill expansion and further development.

Learning the Thai language is a desire of mine, but I know this will be a huge challenge, although I have recently learned to count to 10 in Thai. To overcome this challenge, open-mindedness, the grasping of every opportunity to learn new words and taking careful note of the tones, will support my development of the language.

At this point in my life, my children are grown and are no longer dependent on me, which means I can fully immerse myself into every challenge and opportunity, into Thai culture and way of life, into the aspect of continuous personal development and into the ever expanding experiences of the people and children I interact with.

I’m excited for this opportunity and for meeting everyone also taking part on the programme.

See you all very soon 😊

[Imani Thomas]

Hi, its very nice to meet you, My name is Imani! I am a 22 year old from the Us with a passion in art and animation. I decided to come to Thailand because I’ve always wanted to explore what the world was like outside of the United states and Thailand seemed like such a beautiful country to start with. I’ve always been super curious about exploring other cultures and learning about the world around me, so when I found this opportunity, I just had to take the chance! I expect to face lots of issues in regards to language barriers and navigating a whole new culture and laws, but i won’t be afraid to ask for help or guidance along the way so I can navigate their culture as respectfully as possible. I hope to learn about all it takes to move and navigate in different countries. I won’t stop exploring at Thailand, I want to travel to other parts of the world and explore, So I hope this experience will teach me not to be afraid or anxious to try something new!

[Israel Miller]

Hi! My name is Izzi Miller, and I’m from Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States. My husband, Seth, will also be tagging along during orientation week, and we are excited for the journey. We have two kitties, Clover and Alistair, so we won’t be in the accommodations with you all, but we will see you during everything else.

My favorite color is green, and I love tea, herbs, and fun times. My husband loves the color purple and gaming of all sorts!

We are moving to Thailand to escape the upcoming concerns within the U.S. and to have a personal experience of a lifetime—helping kids learn English, connecting to a new culture, and growing in the Land of Smiles. We expect some differences in communication, of course, but we are also excited for the opportunity to feel safe and supported after so much personal turmoil. I am excited to face a new place and not view it as a challenge, but rather a learning experience and a blessing.

[Nicholas Marvich]

Hello! My name is Nick and I am 56 years old. I’ve lived the entirety of my life in the US. I have four sisters, two children and one granddaughter. I’ve worked in a career of sales and business all over the US for 32 years. I have decided to end my career as I know it and begin a new way to spend my days. I want to share my skills with the world beyond a corporate environment. I decided to pursue teaching English as a way to adventure and share my skills. Thailand has been spoken of very highly and they are more flexible than most countries when it comes to accepting older people into the program. The expected challenges will certainly differ from the real ones. Because of this I am keeping a very open mind and a positive mental attitude. I know the obvious differences of language and culture will be overcome by being a great listener, keeping an open mind and communicating. I am hopeful to help people all along my journey.

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