How Teaching Prepared Me For Success! Three Part Series! Part One.

For as long as I can remember, I have had the deep desire to be an educator. I vividly remember my first job babysitting my neighbors kids. When my siblings and I were kids, we would pretend to play 'school.' I was always the teacher. As I got older, the beginning of each school year was a favorite of mine. My parents took me to get school supplies and I quickly found out that it was the most fun. I loved getting prepared for school each year. I have been blessed to know that I wanted to be a teacher since declaring my major in college. My first teaching experience was abroad in Mexico City, MX. In this blog post, we are discussing how my teaching experience prepared me for success!

In 2003, I flew to Mexico City from Los Angeles, CA. After a 4 hour flight, I went through customs and began exploring my new home for the next 6 months. I landed a position as a teacher at The Wall Street Institute. I would be working 5 days a week. My hostel (hotel) was about 15 minutes from work. I travelled to and from work by foot everyday. Although my commute was short, I was very nervous about walking to work. I was one of the only African American people that I saw on a daily basis. Right off the bat, my commute taught me independence and responsibility. I had to be very vigilant everyday that I travelled to work. That is not something I was used to in my previous living situations. I was living and working in a third world country so everything about being there was out of my comfort zone. Having to adjust my daily routine to get to work safely taught me lots of discipline. I had the same weekly schedule while living abroad. Although my boss was American, my students were both Asian and Mexican. At the time, I spoke little to no Spanish. After a few months of teaching, I picked up some Spanish along the way. I learned enough to be able to communicate with my students, hail a cab and order my food from the restaurants my roommate and I went to. I learned something new everyday from my students.

Teaching allowed me to merge preparation with organization. Effective teaching doesn't happen without a combination of these two skills. I was also able to get over my fear of public speaking. I had to prepare for each lesson in order to be able to teach effectively. I had a combination of adult learners and teenagers. I had small group classes, as well as individual classes. I would constantly get feedback from my boss. When I stayed on task and hit deadlines, I was most effective with my students.