Alumni Spotlight: Amber Paulson

ETA4 is a program that I have many connections with. Not only did a friend of mine attend the year before (and loved it), but the program was founded by an old colleague of mine from high school, Victor Wilson. I had a strong desire to travel the world and help people, but I had no idea where to start. I chatted with my friend who volunteered with ETA4 in 2011 and he gave rave reviews. After realizing that it was Victor's program, I applied, was accepted, and went with it from there.

This is my only experience teaching abroad thus far, but I have a strong feeling that this program is incredibly special. For five weeks, every volunteer in the program was accepted as one of the people of Hue, the city in which we taught. We were welcomed by students who had been attending the program for years and by new students, thrilled at the prospect of learning English from native English speakers. Because the program has been centered in Hue for so many years, it has very strong roots with the people and the community there. They expect ETA4 each year, and they wait in anticipation for the classes to kick off.

We resided in a hotel but all our time was spent with our students and teacher's aides. We were welcomed into homes, ate delicious meals, and sometimes even invited to weddings (a high honor in Vietnamese culture). We rode motorbikes with our local friends, who were more than eager to share their beautiful city with us. The community was so welcoming that I don't believe any volunteer really wanted to leave by the time the program had come to an end. The academic portion of it is special also. There is a set and suggested curriculum, but each teacher is urged to bring his or her own personal flair to the classes. New ideas and alterations to lessons were welcomed and implemented - the curriculum is constantly changing and growing. We were not held to a specific curriculum, rather provided with the tools we'd need to teach our own individualized and effective courses.

ETA4 has had a tri-fold effect on my future. By career, I am a second grade teacher. Having the opportunity to teach in another country and to teach students who do not speak my language as their native tongue, allowed me the opportunity to truly explore myself as an educator. I was presented with challenges and rewards that are completely different, yet just as satisfying as what I experience at my little private school in Los Angeles. I'm also able to now bring what I've learned from that summer into my classroom, either through academic instruction, or just simple conversation about the rest of the world. I also fell in love with the program with my whole heart. It is my hope and dream to continue my involvement with ETA4 for many years to come - I'm definitely returning for the summer of 2013.

I have also, in my opinion, grown into a more conscious and more knowledgeable person from the experience. Being placed in a situation where one is removed from the comforts of our modern lives, forces individual self-evaluation on an extreme scale. When I'm met with the stresses of my day-to-day life, I take a moment to remember who I was in that situation and what I learned from my Vietnamese friends, and I smile.

Bring sunscreen, rent a motorbike, say "yes" to everything, and never stop exploring. There is so much to be taught and even more to learn.