Goals and Striving for Something Better
Picture yourself staring up at an all dark sky; there’s one small point of light… This is where I was three years ago before I started on my epic quest to achieve my Master of Arts in Education at Michigan State University. My initial reason was aimed at attaining the qualification itself. I wasn’t sure precisely what I would be studying, or in what manner I would complete my tasks. I had at the time never completed any formal portions of my education fully online. I only knew at the time I needed a professional teaching qualification in order to further my career in education. Then came my complete emersion into the philosophy of teaching and education. This was my introduction to pedagogic theories in the unique and technological ways Michigan State University has so masterfully designed. For over a decade I’ve been living and working in Southeast Asia. My goals before pursuing my MAED were to improve myself, provide an increasingly more qualified educational landscape for my students to learn in, and provide a better life for my family. My goals remain the same, and I’m increasingly seeing progress and noticing dividends from my efforts manifest in my abilities and career opportunities. This is in no small part due to my own personal efforts, but also a result of the opportunities I’ve been afforded by some of the networks I have developed in the ASEAN region. A small, but committed group of supporters have helped me along the way, and I am eternally grateful. I also wish to express gratitude to the immense benefits the MAED program at Michigan State University has afforded me. I started in this part of the world when I decided to leave the corporate environment of the USA behind and pursue a future of adventure living abroad. I wanted to help people and experience exciting new cultures, while soaking in beautiful and exotic wildlife. I was a curious college student at Thammasat University in Bangkok for a year. I found my way into teaching, first lower secondary students in far flung regions. I branched into upper secondary learning, teaching college management programs, and even doing extension activities with local tax offices to increase English language training and improve cultural understandings. All these years later I’ve developed a great appreciation for the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve gained. I know full well I have more to give, and I know the technical and pedagogic skills I’ve attained through my master’s program will assist me in achieving my new goals as they develop. In the coming years I look forward to launching a new private high school in a hybrid rural area with the professional assistance of some of the best people I’ve encountered during my many years abroad. It’s both exhilarating and fit to be challenging. I’m prepared and eager. The future’s bright as I climb the sky towards that one small point of light… I’m focused. |