tahn

I am a young graduate student with qualifications in Foundation Phase teaching; Teaching English as a First Language, and Inclusive Education. I am a warm; caring, and organized orientated individual, whose passion solely focuses on helping young learners develop within the schooling systems.

I also possess skills such as being a reader and scribe, as I currently work independently with students who require additional help. Each of my students have unique learning barriers, and each one has improved my understanding as a teacher.

As a South African citizen, I also have background knowledge to diversity; inclusion, and promoting quality education amongst all young learners. Being South African allows me to also have the courage to engage with new learning and teaching techniques, which I may encounter in a new country.

Majoring in English, I rarely had exams in school. Instead, college consisted of going to lacrosse practice every day and writing a minimum of 50 new pages every week for various writing assignments. These essays were of course always pertaining to readings that the classes were engaging with at the time. I'm proud to say that my best grades have always been in English literature. Upon leaving school, however, one quickly learns that passions unfortunately come second to paychecks (at least if you want to move out of your parents' house).

Eager to start my career, I took the first corporate job I was offered. Things went surprising great. The office had high ceilings and and open floor plan. It was filled head to tow with people my age, hungry both to compete with and to help one another. I've always been a fast learner. The atmosphere in the office combined with my competitive sports background and desire to help my team succeed led me to quickly become a top performer at this large publicly traded tech company in New York City for the next three years. There, I developed strong rapport building and general communication skills. When COVID-19 forced us to begin working from home, it gave me time to think about the things I have not done and the places I have not been. Not wanting a promotion at the company I was at, which had moved to 100% remote work, I decided to purchase a 168-Hour Level 5 Online TEFL Course in hopes that I could soon spend 10 months teaching English abroad.

Shortly after beginning my TEFL course, I left my sales job to begin working at a nationally recognized, critically acclaimed restaurant. Here, again, the focus remains on communication. If I were asked to describe what I do at work in one word, it would be communicate. The restaurant has lofty standards to uphold and a story to tell about every dish. Each customer, conversely, has their own sets of dietary restrictions, likes, dislikes, etc. that we need to maneuver around during service. We work as a team. We communicate and we work to put smiles on customers' faces. While this work is very rewarding, I my eyes are set on teaching English abroad. I believe that the skill sets I began developing in school and have continued to build upon throughout my career will transition smoothly into teaching English. I hope you agree.

I take my job seriously and strive to perform to the best of my ability. Working in customer service strengthened my ability to multitask and communicate with others. I strive to make others feel comfortable and cared for with my friendly and caring personality. I have helped my sister with her children for over six years. By spending time with her son, who has special needs, I have learned that looking at the world from different perspectives is essential. I have also strengthened my patience and become more open-minded and flexible with others by spending time with him. I have become a babysitter, teacher, role model, and counselor to these children and have learned the importance of these positions to others. My experience with culinary arts, schooling, and babysitting has helped me to think outside the box and be more creative.