Reflections

About 7 months ago, I came to the UK to live and to start my career. While seven months may not seem like such a critical moment to commemorate on a blog, I figured that since I missed my six month anniversary over here, I had better do something to recognize my seven month!

My original goal was to move to Scotland - I wasn't really all that fussed about where in particular in Scotland I wanted to settle - and to pursue my career within environmental education. While I feel I hve moved closer to where I want to be in terms of my career I am abit further from where I want to be in terms of location . . . considering I am on the south coast of Engalnd!

My job is going well enough, but I know that it’s not quite exactly want I want to do in the long term. I love the part of my job that involves teaching kids about science and the environment. I get such a natural high out of having the kids understand a concept that they were having trouble with or having them be excited about finding a sea urchin or a crab in a rockpool! While working within the adventure activity side of things also provides natural highs, for instance when you successfully get a child to overcome their fear of heights somewhat by helping them to extend their own personal boundaries, for me at least, that kind of thrill isn’t quite as rewarding as the educational kind! I hope to eventually move into a job that involves environmental education on a more full time basis. I also enjoy the challenge of creating materials for the students to use during a session and I enjoy the opportunities I have here to work on them, but I hope to have more creative control in a future job. We’ll see what the future will bring!

On a personal note, I lost my grandfather this year, which was something that I found particularly difficult. We were extremely close and he was an important role model for me. I think that is one of the hardest things about moving to a new country – being away from family and friends. While I miss them, I know that, at least for now, this is still the right path for me and I look forward to seeing where this road leads!