Gustavo is a 30-year-old lawyer, news anchor in Televisa Networks, and political columnist in La Crónica de Baja California.
I wanted to volunteer as an English teacher, maybe in Asia, but then I thought it would be a good idea teach in Latin America. Being Mexican, and obviously speaking Spanish, would allow me to connect with my students in our first language, and then be able to teach them some English.
I'm very happy to say it was actually a good idea, my students (Guatemalan firefighters) felt more confident and comfortable.
Maximo Nivel provides a lot of tools on how to teach, and all the basic information I needed for my program, but, at the end, the volunteer has to show some imagination and creativity. The volunteer is responsible for gaining the trust and interest of the students.
It isn't going to be easy, it's truly a challenge, and you're not just going to be able to pretend to be helping other people. If you truly want to leave a mark, then you'll need a lot of effort, creativity, and determination. Be prepared to give the best of yourself, and be prepared to really get some work done!
I got up early to do tourist activities, a walking tour, for example, then I went to a coffee shop to prepare details for class. I went to class (as if I had a part-time job), and then I had the afternoon free to hang out with other volunteers.
My biggest fear was being a poor English teacher. I'm not a teacher back home and I worried I would not be able to teach them anything. I overcame it through work -- every day I dedicated some of my "free time" to prepare the lessons, to think of new and better ways to get the interest of the students, of how to make them laugh, and how to make them have fun in class.