17 May: Pre-Departure

I am currently sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Atlanta, Georgia, where I will board my flight to Quito, Ecuador! Although it is not my first time traveling abroad, it is my first time traveling abroad alone, so yeah, I am a tad bit nervous and scared. However, my excitement for Ecuador does keep me slightly more grounded than I would have been.

I decided to study abroad for the summer before my senior year of my undergrad because I felt that it was my last opportunity to travel at a young age at no cost to me!--I earned multiple scholarships and have come across various financial opportunities. I am studying to earn my bachelor's in Secondary Education with an emphasis in English, with certificates in Literature and Linguistics; I am also in NAU's accelerated master's program in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). Studying TESL brings me to Ecuador, where I will be teaching English to students in an Ecuadorian public school; I could not be more excited about earning experience in the field before even graduating with the master's! I wanted to teach English abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, mainly because I am a native Spanish speaker and I wanted to be placed somewhere where I knew the language so that I can be more comfortable. Ecuador just happen to fall in my lap and I decided to run with it, which brought me to where I am now.

I am completing an internship course through NAU, which means that I will be doing quite a bit of field experience--essentially all I am doing is in the field of TESL education. I want to fully immerse myself in the Ecuadorian culture, so I am staying with a host family and teaching in a public Ecuadorian school. In the school, I want to connect with the students and get to know them; this experience will give me practice in the TESL school setting, . This experience will not only benefit me by looking great on my teacher résumé, it will also enhance my current skill set and give new skills that I can use after I graduate with my degrees in 1-2 years. I cannot wait to get in the field already, but I won't start until Monday, which gives me enough time to get adjusted to the slightly different time zone, the climate, and my host family.

I guess I'll leave this post as is and post another tomorrow or Sunday once I am all settled in. I don't get into Quito until super late at night, but I will try my best to post! Adiós! Hasta luego!!