What is your favorite travel memory?
One of my favorite travel memories was taking a 4 day road trip across the Outback in Australia. I was studying abroad in the Gold Coast at the time and 3 of my American girlfriends and I decided to rent a car and take a road trip across Australia. None of us had ever driven on the left side of the road before and only I knew how to read a map. We got lost a couple of times and ended up in some of the most amazing towns and canyons. At one point we had to sleep in the car at a gas station because we had run out of gas and didn't know gas stations in the outback closed early. The open skies, the wildlife and the scenery made it such a memorable experience. I recommend that everyone gets lost.
Which destination is most underrated? Conversely, which is most overrated?
One of the most underrated destinations I've been to has to be the island of Bohol in The Philippines. The island has some of the friendliest people and very good food. It has pristine, clear waters, white sand beaches and jungles. It still has intact some historical buildings and beautiful churches. I have traveled to 25 countries and none of them were overrated. I always find amazing aspects to the places I have visited.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
In my opinion, it is important to have respect for your employees and to make them feel important. Working for EF definitely makes me feel as though I am part of a huge family. I have countless people that I can contact within the company and I know they will always be there to offer to help. When I first arrived in China, EF did the most amazing job of making sure we had a great on-boarding experience. We were slowly immersed into the language and culture. EF has been there every step of the way.
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
I am so much more confident at being the best teacher that I can be. EF offers teacher workshops and trainings almost every month. I used to get extremely shy and I would doubt myself a lot. But now I have become a better public speaker and teacher. I am more confident in myself and have been taking more opportunities within the company to grow even more.
What unique qualities does your company possess?
There are countless of opportunities to grow within the company. There are opportunities to make us better teachers, better Chinese speakers and better individuals all around. I graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Media Production and EF always has opportunities for me to use my degree in other aspects of the company. For example, I was able to join a film production crew that produced short videos for Adult EF schools all over China. I also love that EF has a budget for team building events every month for our school. We are able to go out to dinner, have birthday parties for all of the staff and travel as a school. It's the most amazing part of working for EF.
Describe a time when you felt especially proud to be part of your current team.
When I first applied for my current teaching position I thought I would only be staying one year. I am excited to say that just signed a contract for a second year. That most definitely has to do because of the team I work with and the company I work for. I am very serious when I say that my team members are my family away from home. For the holidays I was a part of the Christmas committee at our school. We designed an entire Christmas fair with games and crafts for the kids at our school. Everyone had an amazing time and every single member of our school was in charge of one part of the fair.