What I Learned from School (Week 2)

For the last 5 years, I have been teaching English as a Second Language to International students. I pretty much love everything about it. I like the lesson planning, the teaching, the students, the coworkers, even the grading. There's actually only one thing I truly dislike about it - the instability.

As politics have shifted over the last couple of years, so has the international student population in the United States. Visas are more expensive and harder to get; the US isn't the most popular study destination any longer; and government policies in other countries have made it harder to study abroad. As the number of students decreases, so does the number of classes Tristinn gets to teach. 

So, I made a school change in July. I stopped teaching English full-time and started working in the Admissions office at Bastyr University, a natural health sciences medical university. In my new role, I answer a lot of emails, have advising appointments with students, and work on a variety of enrollment/admissions projects. It's quite different from my day to day workflow as a teacher. 

This year I learned that external forces can cause change that you don't want.

I did not want to change jobs this year. I have been incredibly privileged to have a job that I really love going to every day. I had a wonderful community of friends and students that I didn't want to leave. I hadn't reached that plateau of complacency which often prompts someone to get a new job. I wasn't ready to leave. And yet...

This year I learned that forced change doesn't have to be bad. 

My new job has presented me with so many opportunities to learn and grow. I've already gained all sorts of new skills and perspectives that I wouldn't have gotten in my role as a teacher. I'm seeing a completely new side of education; one that was actually vital for the success of my role as a teacher. Without an admissions team bringing in new students, who was I supposed to teach?

Change often - usually -  comes when we least want it. But change is also an opportunity. School reminded me of that this year.