Graduation Day

Shiny New Diploma

GRADUATION DAY!
The last couple of years have been interesting to say the least. I wanted to learn to drive a Rig so I did that. I wanted to always work in the Alberta Oil Fields so check to that, although sliding a 45 ton truck into a snow and ice covered ditch more than once was never on agenda. Driving across country check (7 times). Athabasca Glacier, climbed. Get up close to a Grizzly Bear in the wild, short soiling check. Well now I will add TEFL graduate to that list, and to those who know my academic history, I got an A!! Yes you read that right, I got an A and did no cheating to boot. Hey high school buddies remember when 2 of our class grades did not add up to a A. Maybe we should have paid attention just a bit, or actually went to class once in a while. (You know who you are)

This course was not for the faint of heart. At times it was stressful, at times the course load seemed unbearable and for the love of god how many verb tenses are there?. Mix that with living in Leon, the dietary changes and Forrest Gumping your Spanish to survive and it was a recipe for disaster. However there was never a moment when I did not think I could pass. Learning to Salsa (poorly and quite robotic of course) was a great stress reliever. The 12 of us had an oddly good relationship with each other. No isolated social or work groups or gossip. It was really an all for one, one for all type of support group to which is what made this bearable.

Carmen, our morning instructor was a combination of professionalism, subtle humor, high intellect and Tennessee charm. I learned quite a bit from Carmen.
Heather, our afternoon instructor was a firebrand of energy, humor, motivation and she did not miss a trick. Her motivation was our success.
Not to be forgotten is John. He steered the ship through the storms and into calm waters. It could be fixing the internet, giving guidance on opportunities abroad, cleaning up after our sorry asses or just opening a cold beer and telling a funny story. They are the perfect trifecta to enable success.

I can not see into the future and I do not know if I will be a successful ESL teacher. This little gem will give me another tool to put into my kit to give me that opportunity. Life really is like a box of chocolates Forrest.