One more year

I have a lot of time to sit around and think this summer. So as I was thinking about summer itself, it struck me…this is my last summer as an undergrad. Last summer as a student, most likely. (Seriously doubt I’ll be doing grad school)

What am I doing with my last summer? Working, mostly. Waiting for a paycheck so I can start saving money for some semblance of a trip this coming year. But I’m also thinking about what I want to do with my life post-grad. And I think I’ve come to a decision:

I will throw my hard earned, expensive degree to the wayside for a couple years and teach English abroad. It’s  something that has been in the back of my mind, but I always thought I could do it later in life, as a kind of retirement thing. I know a couple who is teaching English in China right now who absolutely love it, and they gave me the idea to begin with.

I have a couple of options: One, I take an online course to recieve my TEFL/TESOL certification, which will enable me to teach all over the world.

OR, I can apply for a Fulbright ETA Grant, which will send me to one country for under a year on their dime to teach English. I’m thinking Malta, if I go with this option.

Either path I choose, it would be a great experience. The better thing about simply getting a TEFL/TESOL cert. and teaching abroad is that I will be getting paid as soon as I start working…which means I can start paying back my student loans. Yippee!

So what about that great Communication degree, you ask? Well, it won’t just be a pretty piece of paper to hang on the wall. Once I feel I’ve spent enough time teaching, I’ll begin searching for jobs relating to my degree. Perhaps even overseas. Being an ex-pat would be cool, I think.

Have questions about becoming certified to teach abroad? Ask me, I’ve been doing tons of research on the topic. If you’re super curious and can’t wait, I suggest visiting i-to-i, a travel site that specializes in adventure and volunteer travel, and offers great TEFL certification classes. I think I’ll be taking their online course.

More to come on this topic later, I’m sure. I’ll keep ya posted.

Traveling Made Really, Really….Really Easy

You might have noticed in my first Italy post that I mentioned the price of airfare through STA Travel, as well as regular airfare. I thought I would take a moment to explain STA to those of you who may not know what it is.

FROM THE SITE:

“STA Travel is the largest student travel organization in the world and the preferred travel company for over 6 million people worldwide!”

So basically, STA makes traveling the world affordable for students. But not only do they get you deals on airfare, they can help with accomodations, transportation, travel insurance, international cell phones, tours and group travel and much, much more.

If you find yourself thinking that traveling is just far to expensive for you while you’re in college, STA is definitely worth a shot. In each new post of mine I will be showing you the difference between regular airfare/travel costs compared to STA’s costs, and you can decide for yourself what you would rather pay.

What’s even cooler is, STA isn’t just for students, they also have special rates for teachers and travelers under 26 years of age.

Not only do I think STA is incredibly handy when planning to travel, I have a personal attachment to it as well. Bear with me while I plug myself a little bit.

STA has a summer internship called the World Traveler Internship where they send two people around the world to make vlogs (video blogs), regular blogs and take pictures. Their work will be hosted on their site for all the world to see. It’s a pretty awesome deal, and I recently applied for it! The application process is rigourous, and includes a video application on YouTube.

You can find my video here. I always appreciate comments and ratings!

Ok, personal plug over.

I will be making a new post soon. Things at Bellarmine have been pretty crazy lately! In fact, we lost power for about an hour today. But all is well!

Have a lovely weekend!!