A New Perspective on Education

Mychaela Olson '09

As I sit at my desk in my classroom, I can’t help looking at the sign hanging above my desk that says, “The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” and laugh. 

Never in my wildest dreams would I have pictured myself where I am today; living and teaching in South Korea. 

When I graduated in 2009 with my Bachelor’s in Education and my teaching license, I did what any other newly graduated teacher did, search and apply for jobs around the clock and hope that in the current stagnant job market an opportunity would arise. 

After working for two years, I found myself unhappy in my job and was starting to doubt my decision to go into teaching. I knew I needed to make a change, I just didn’t know at the time the change that was going to occur would be so drastic. 

Now, here it is 13 months later and I have just started my second year teaching in Korea. I have loved every minute of it. I have had the opportunity to put all those skills I learned during my time at Pacific to good use, work alongside some amazing Korean teachers, teach some amazingly talented students from the young grade of Kindergarten all the way up to 6^th grade and I have learned a lot about myself along the way. 

It is widely known among teachers that we don’t go into teaching because we are going to make a copious amount of money. No, we go into teaching because we love working with students. This opportunity that I have taken has rejuvenated my love for teaching and working with children. 

I’ve also been extremely lucky to ignite another passion, traveling. I have been able to travel around Korea, adventured through Thailand for 17 days this past August and island hop my way through Indonesia this past January. 

Considering before all this I had never left the United States or Canada; if someone had told me this would be my life at 24 years old, I would have called them crazy. What started out as a whim of an idea has turned into an amazing experience. To be able to do what I love everyday and get to travel the world, as cheesy as it sounds, sometimes it seems to good to be true.

Olson '09 is a Native English Teacher for Geyonggi English Program in Korea (GEPIK). Her major at Pacific was Education and Learning. She is currently working on her Master in Curriculum and Instruction: Reading with an Emphasis in Elementary Education through Grand Canyon University in Arizona.