Staff Spotlight: Sarah

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Sarah is a qualified fitness Instructor and TEFL Specialist at Premier TEFL. She's been hiking all over 5 continents. From hiking Machu Picchu to a dawn visit of Angkor Wat temple, Sarah will make sure adventure is at the heart of your plans!

What is your favorite travel memory?

My favorite travel memory would have to be the 5 days, 85km Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. At the beginning I was ill due to altitude sickness and thought I wouldn't be able to finish the trek, this would have been devastating for me as I have planned it for so long. Fortunately, I came around on day 2 stronger than ever.

We met some beautiful native people along the way. Each night we stayed in different camps with the most delicious fresh cuisine cooked for us by our chefs. Night one we stayed in Skydomes which are made of glass in the middle of a glacier, where we watched the stars until we fell asleep.

On average we were hiking 21km a day up and down mountain peaks, through jungles and crossing rivers. On the last night, we stay in hotel accommodation, which was heaven with hot showers and towels! Seeing Machu Picchu was the icing on top of the cake. All the hard work to get there is was completely worth it! I really love nature and everything that it has to offer so this was defiantly my favorite travel memory for sure!

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I feel as though I've grown massively working for Premier TEFL. I was lucky enough to have visited our schools and teachers in Thailand and Myanmar which was amazing. Greeting all the kids who love being thought English and super excited to see you is truly heartwarming.

I've always had a love for travel and I think its the best education by far! Meeting people from every walk of life and sharing travel stories is something you'll never forget. Not to mind trying all the amazing food!

I also feel that travel also makes you grow as a person. Moving to a country where you don't know people or even the language is scary but it is by far the best experience and I would encourage anyone to try it!

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

One of the best stories for me was one student who always wanted to go and teach English and travel but was super nervous about going on her own. She chooses Premier TEFL because she felt it’s a loyal company to trust and she'll be going with a group of like-minded people.

We were chatting on the phone nearly every week before she left for Vietnam making sure she had everything. I remember getting a call from her a week into her Internship thanking me for helping her make the right decision and it made my year! She couldn't be happier that she took the leap! She fell in love with Vietnam, the food the people and of course the teaching. That for me was so reassuring knowing that it was changing her life.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

Gosh, this is such a hard question. I love them all, but, if I were to choose one, I would have to say Argentina Nationwide!

I've recently returned from traveling there and I loved it. With the Argentina Nationwide Paid Internship, you stay with a local Argentina Family and the cook you 3 meals a day. I've learned little Spanish from traveling and I'd love to improve it so this would be a great one for me!

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

I think it would have to be the variety of courses and Internships we have available. Do you want to teach in South America? Asia? Europe? Or do you want to teach English online? We cater to everyone wanted to teach English.

One time in particular where I was proud of the team was when we launched our new website, in 2019. A lot of hard work designing, marketing, and web development went into creating our amazing new website and it's super easy to use and navigate around. Lots of nice pictures and a beautiful layout.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

I believe the biggest factor in becoming a successful company is communication and Teamwork.

I'm so lucky to be a part of the Premier TEFL family. We all care about our newly qualified teachers going abroad and possibly teaching for the very first time. We don't see people as numbers we see them as part of our family. In most cases, our teachers are traveling aboard for the first time and we want to make sure it's a great experience.

So we take the time to listen to each personal story and why they want to teach abroad.