I was lucky enough and had a supportive enough family that I was able to spend a year living and taking classes in Paris while I was in college. That was a mind-blowingly awesome experience and when I left at the end of the school year I had every intention of coming back after earning my degree. Life after college, however, had different plans for me.
I graduated with two BAs and no job prospects. I worked in call centers and waited tables because having undergrad degrees in French and Arabic wasn't a big selling point. No one cared that I spoke French and the U.S. government wanted me to be better at Arabic and pick up a dialect. I was faced with the choice of going back to school or continue my string of dead-end jobs.
I decided to go back to school. I realized that I had experienced things in my life that I never would have been able to if I hadn't studied foreign languages and their cultures. I thought that the best thing I could do with my (otherwise unmarketable) skills would be to teach them to others and, hopefully, give them the life-enriching opportunities I had been given. So I went back to get my license to teach French.
While I was going through my licensure program I began substitute teaching and I met my wife. We married after I finished the program and became a licensed teacher. The first school year I had my license I was unable to get a full-time teaching job and continued to sub. She was also looking to switch schools to somewhere closer to home. We both love traveling and decided that, since I didn't have a contract, she was looking to change schools, we didn't have any children and didn't own a house, this would be the perfect time to seriously pursue teaching abroad.
She did some research and we were on our way to an adventure!
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| Bobbi and me in Mexico! |
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| This is my mom and me in London. |
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| My brother and me in Paris. |
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| My brother and me in Paris. |
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| Me on Grand Bahama Island. |
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| This is my wife and me at Clinch Mountain, TN |
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