My husband has been dead for just over a year˳ My son is a junior in college now˳ Some significant time has passed and I decided it was time to begin my career˳ I always knew that after devoting myself completely to my family and to motherhood, that I would eventually have a career˳ I just knew that I was not going to be able to do both and be good at either if I did it all at the same time˳ Well, I may perhaps could have been good at both but not great… and I really needed and wanted to be a full-time mother˳
The time I spent with my extended family last year did a world of good for my spirit˳ The best part of it all was being able to form relationships with my little niece and nephews, whom I had never met˳ I did not realize just how much I missed having young children in my world until they were there˳ At my nephew’s fourth birthday party, while hordes of little children ran everywhere around the house, I found myself playing Barbies with the girls and hide and seek with the boys˳ While the other adults gathered around the food, I had groups of children gathered around me˳ I thought nothing of it˳ Actually, that is just what usually happens when there are children around me˳ This time was different though˳ My sister was there and commented after the party that many of the parents had noticed how good I was with their young children˳ I had never really thought about it before but as I began to consider a career path, I kept coming back in my mind to that day˳
I had some concerns about starting any kind of job˳ I absolutely hate anybody making demands on my day˳ I don’t like nine-to-five jobs˳ I don’t like not having control over my time˳ I don’t like not being able to go where I want to go when I want to go… so this was a problem for me˳ I have always been an early riser˳ I naturally wake up crazy early in the morning and have been that way my entire life˳ I started looking around for programs to get my teaching certification although I really wasn’t thrilled to work the hours of a school teacher˳ By sheer chance, I stumbled across a job posting for an online teaching position for a company in Beijing, China that did not require certification˳ It only required that I have at least a four-year degree and experience teaching at any level… which I had both˳ I also had to be a native English speaker˳ In truth, I actually learned to speak Spanish first but since I have lived on the mainland since I was three, I learned to speak English fluently long ago˳
I applied for the job and to my great delight, I got it˳ The drawback (if you can call it that) is that my teaching hours are in Beijing time˳ I live in Texas; so, that means when it is day there, it is night here˳ Peak hours for teaching are 3:00am -7:30am my time… which for me is not a problem at all˳ By 8:00am, I have completed my classes and have the entire day to do whatever I want to do˳ Because the classes are online, I can teach in my pajamas as long as I look respectable from the waist up˳ The kids never know I have on bunny slippers if I do not show them! If I want more hours, I can teach in the evenings starting at 7pm˳ I choose all my own hours˳ I work as little or as much as I want to˳ Students range from three years old up to thirteen˳ There are various levels according to student ability˳ My favorite levels are the first two… beginners˳ I teach phonics, the alphabet, colors, shapes and numbers˳ I am not required to speak any Chinese˳ I do not have to come up with my own curriculum˳ The company already has a pre-designed curriculum˳ My job is to teach it and engage the students with high energy and what they call “total physical response” or TPR˳ TPR is essentially a set of gestures that communicate non-verbal messages they can understand˳ I use a lot of props — puppets, flashcards and all sorts of toys… and I get paid well for it˳ It is my dream job!
Every student I come across has impacted me˳ I have found that if a student comes back for a class with me more than once, it changes my everyday life˳ I think about that child throughout the day˳ I ask myself what I can do to really engage them in their desire to learn˳ I find myself laughing out loud at little things that they said or how they responded to certain things I said or did in class˳ I make up songs with their name in it or about the lesson I am about to teach them in my head˳ Each and every one of them fills my heart with great joy! I find this job heals a part of my spirit that so longs to share and give love to any child willing to receive it˳ Perhaps because I am a widow and my husband is gone˳ Perhaps because my son is in college now and has left the home… or perhaps because I just have so much love inside, I am able to freely give it to these little kids˳ In truth, maybe it is just because I always wanted to be on Sesame Street when I was a little girl growing up! Whatever the reason, teaching these little kids heals my heart in a most profound way˳
The money I receive is nice˳ The fact that I have a career now after all of these years is nice˳ However by far, the nicest of all is the fulfillment and joy I receive from knowing that I have made a difference in this world˳ My actions directly impact little children on the other side of the world˳ I am for many of them, the very first foreign person they have ever met or seen˳ I represent not only the company I work for but the United States itself in their little minds˳ They are forming lifelong opinions based on me about America itself˳ That’s huge! Who knows who these children will grow up to be? I take very seriously this tremendous responsibility in my mind˳ It is a great honor for me… and an even greater privilege!
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