Now that I look back, it really must have been God planning this for me all along. Originally, I had never even imagined going abroad. I heard of the idea before, but it just didn't seem feasible for a high school student like me. There was no way my parents would pay ~$15,000, and this "non-traditional" schooling did not appeal to them either.
Then one day, I found out that my friend Genevieve was going to spend a year abroad in Japan through the American Field Service (AFS). I thought she was the luckiest person ever, and said to myself, "There has to be a way to make this (my dream of going abroad) happen!" I looked up AFS online, read about the benefits of going abroad, and by then, was even more hooked. But one look at the price tag...and I felt like my dreams were down the drain. That was about two years ago.
Fast forward to 2011. I started getting interested in Korea through Simon and Martina's wonderful blog, Eat Your Kimchi. While they talk mostly about Kpop, I found out about them via a Google search: "teaching English in Korea." It was, and still is, something that I really want to do. Many people call me crazy, but I just absolutely love teaching, and have no idea why. Anyways, I digress. So here I am, on Google. I click on a Youtube link about teaching English overseas, and listen to Simon and Martina. From the looks of it, Korea is pretty great. By then, my dream of teaching ESL was even more solidified. In my free time, I looked up videos about Korean life, and came across this Youtuber named videomonkey10. I learned that she was spending a semester abroad in Korea through NSLI-Y, a government sponsored scholarship. I look up NSLI-Y, and THAT was the best feeling ever...as well as my door to going abroad.
Then one day, I found out that my friend Genevieve was going to spend a year abroad in Japan through the American Field Service (AFS). I thought she was the luckiest person ever, and said to myself, "There has to be a way to make this (my dream of going abroad) happen!" I looked up AFS online, read about the benefits of going abroad, and by then, was even more hooked. But one look at the price tag...and I felt like my dreams were down the drain. That was about two years ago.
Fast forward to 2011. I started getting interested in Korea through Simon and Martina's wonderful blog, Eat Your Kimchi. While they talk mostly about Kpop, I found out about them via a Google search: "teaching English in Korea." It was, and still is, something that I really want to do. Many people call me crazy, but I just absolutely love teaching, and have no idea why. Anyways, I digress. So here I am, on Google. I click on a Youtube link about teaching English overseas, and listen to Simon and Martina. From the looks of it, Korea is pretty great. By then, my dream of teaching ESL was even more solidified. In my free time, I looked up videos about Korean life, and came across this Youtuber named videomonkey10. I learned that she was spending a semester abroad in Korea through NSLI-Y, a government sponsored scholarship. I look up NSLI-Y, and THAT was the best feeling ever...as well as my door to going abroad.
Unbelievable... I'm reading this and... this is the exact same way that I came across the CBYX scholarship.
ReplyDeleteIt started with the Eat Your Kimchi teaching in Korea video, which somehow lead to NSLI-Y, which lead to CBYX.
And here I am now as a semi-finalist for both CBYX and CBYX Vocational, waiting for a response on April 1st. Unbelievable. (: