by Richard Carriero

Created on: April 04, 2007   Last Updated: June 22, 2010

I am what a brilliant article in Time magazine referred to last year as a "twixter." Another term I have heard for my particular situation in life is the "quarter life crisis." I have attained a college degree and coupled with my GRE score I have a reasonable chance of getting into a quality graduate school. I also, as a tutor and freelancer, work to some degree in my chosen profession, which is English. Yet my ultimate goal is to be an accomplished author and university professor. These goals require more education and experience, both of which require time and money. I am twenty eight years old, and while I do wish to attain a Masters Degree, a PhD and an academic career, I also want to experience life and see the world before I settle down to such studious long term goals. I also have accumulated some debt from my undergraduate education and youthful indiscretions with money. A graduate education would require accumulating far more debt-debt with which I would find myself saddled as I began my career and potentially my family. For these reasons I have decided to become certified to teach English as a second language and to travel abroad in order to further my career as a teacher, see the world and earn money.

There are both practical and personal considerations guiding this decision. On the personal side, there is a great deal of the world that I want to see. I want to be totally immersed in foreign cultures, not merely visit their tourist traps for a week or so. I experienced much of Europe on a backpacking trip in 2005; I found that journey to be more of an extended vacation with none of cares or considerations that make life real. In addition experiencing a culture at the fundamental level takes time and time abroad takes money. Since I do not come from money, the only way for me to sustain a lifestyle in which I get to see the world is to work while I am traveling. There are not many ways in which one can teach abroad. Teaching English, however, is one of them.

On the practical side, I am twenty eight years old. I have a manageable level of debt and a career as a tutor that I can leave and come back to easily. I am not married or in a relationship of any kind. I do not own any property and am in no other way tied to life in the United States. After a quick and relatively inexpensive training and certification process I can be ready to travel in a matter of months. With an English degree and eight years of teaching experience, I am an attractive candidate

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>