What is your favorite travel memory?
One of my favorite travel memories was heading to Japan for a long weekend when I was teaching in South Korea. We flew to Tokyo and spent the weekend planning our sunrise summit of Mt. Fuji at sunrise. It took multiple trains, buses, and taxis to get there, but it was a really unique experience to be able to summit this mountain in Japan with friends who were from Canada, Italy, and South Africa.
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
I think I've learned a lot about the process of moving abroad. Although I've done it twice since college, everyone has their own individual experience. Some people go right after college while others go during a career break. Some people have traveled extensively beforehand while others have just gotten their first passport. Everyone is from a different area of the world with different experiences leading up to this moment. No one has the exact same route or plan even if they're all going to teach in Spain. It's really fun to hear about everyone's individual passions and reason about why they want to go on this adventure and I've been learning so many unique stories along the way.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
That they're going to continue on and go to another CIEE Teach program in another country. Teaching abroad is addicting, so this actually happens quite often! I also know of a lot of stories and people who have met their partner abroad and are getting married. You never know what life will bring if you move across the world. It opens up endless possibilities.
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
I would want to teach in China. I never had the chance to go there while living in Asia and think it would be fascinating to live there for a year or two. I really want to eat all the food, be there during Chinese New Year, hike parts of the Great Wall, learn a bit of the language, and see what it's like to really live there.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
I love the support that CIEE offers to those looking to teach abroad. We connect with our teachers up to a year or even more before they depart. This gives us the ability to connect with people and offer individual guidance. Our team is really passionate about making this process smooth and we've all been through it, so we know what it's like. I'm always proud of my team! We get along and work well together while helping each other when needed.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
We all communicate really well and are all able to adapt and be flexible when things get busy. We don't only communicate well internally, but do our best to reach out to all our teachers very regularly and track down that they are going to successfully get abroad on time with the correct documents and preparation beforehand. We don't passively wait for challenges to come to us, but we anticipate new changes and plan out how to resolve them early on.