A Dream Becomes Reality

When I was a kid, I was a little weird. I always had this fascination with Europe. It was cool. It was interesting. It was special. I wanted to go there one day. It even got to the point that I would only follow the international news, such as the BBC, and my area’s local news stations became chopped liver.

Fast forward a few years. Okay, it’s more than “a few,” but we’ll call it that to avoid showing my age. You see, I have had a fear of flying for my entire life. I was afraid of heights. I was afraid of crashing. Even though statistics show I actually had a better chance of death or injury just driving my car, I knew that, when I drove, at least I was the one in control. I was never, ever going to fly. Period.

That was, however, until a got an offer I couldn’t refuse.

It was January 2019. Upstate New York was in the midst of another terrible winter, with daily cold and weekly snowstorms eating away at my morale. I was at a crossroads in my life. I was merely going through the motions. I knew I had more to give to the world. Even though I had been taking a break from the field of education, I knew that it was my true passion. After multiple rounds of soul searching and praying, my mind had been made up. I was a teacher, and I was going to be a teacher again. After all, I had a $200,000 piece of paper saying I was qualified to be a teacher, and what good was that going to do if it just continued to collect dust?

How was this going to work? Plenty of logistics loomed. While upstate New York is and always will be home, I was, admittedly, getting a little tired of the high taxes, the terrible weather, and the long lines at Taco Bell. Oh, and don’t even get me started on Andrew Cuomo. I just didn’t want to live there anymore. Recognizing that I was about to enter my fourth decade of life, it was time to break the boring, same old, same old routine. It was time for me to break out of my shell and share my personal gifts with the world. Not just New York or the United States, but the world.

Long story short, one Google search led to another, and I discovered TEFL. What does TEFL stand for, you ask? No, it does not stand for Tacos to Everyone For Life. It’s okay; I was disappointed when I discovered that as well. It stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. This was my door back into the field I loved so much. My passion for teaching and my wish to see the world were seamlessly coming together. I was going to teach abroad.

Just for the hell of it, I applied for a few jobs teaching English overseas. I began with China and South Korea. I figured if I could get one or two responses for every job application I sent out, then maybe I had a future in this. If they responded, great. If not, it is what it is.

But they did respond. ALL OF THEM. My inbox was flooded. People wanted to interview me. They were eager to tell me about the wonderful benefits package I would get if I came and taught with them. I was a hot commodity. I had never been a hot commodity before. It felt good. It showed me that people legitimately believed I would do great work in this field.

Sure, Hangzhou or Ningbo would have been a great place to work. However, I remembered two things. First, I wanted to be a ESL or TEFL teacher, not just an English teacher as many of these wonderful hiring managers and school directors on the other side of the world wanted me to be. English teacher? Been there, done that. It was time for a little more variety. It might seem like semantics to you, but I care about the small details. Secondly, remember that dream I talked about before? It was Europe. No offense to Asia, but Europe was always number one on my bucket list. Besides, the U.S. and China have this little trade war going on if you haven’t heard. And South Korea’s neighbor to the north is just a wee bit terrifying. Maybe not the best places for me to break in a new career. I knew Europe was it.

So I slowed down. I wanted to focus on Europe. I also realized that I wanted to get my TEFL certification before I even stepped in a classroom on foreign soil. Why not fly to Europe and go get my TEFL certification there?

Oh, yeah, that fear of flying. Right. The Mike of 10-15 years ago might have said, “Okay, that’s it. Too bad.”

But the Mike of 2019 is much different. He said, “Suck it up, cupcake. You’re a big boy. You can do it. That’s what I kept telling myself. I knew that the time for running from my fears was over. I couldn’t be a shy little boy anymore. The best way to handle the fear of flying was to face it head on. It was the only way I was going to escape the sheltered life I had been living for the last 29 years. Time to break out of my shell and depart my comfort zone, which, in this case, was literally the only country I had ever known since I entered this world. I knew that I was meant to do this, and I couldn’t do it if I didn’t show some bravery and an ability to shake the “norms” that were etched in my head. I was getting on that plane and going to Europe.

Europe has 44 countries. I had to pick one. Maybe I could explore my family’s heritage in Italy. Perhaps I could finally use that high school Spanish course and head to Spain. Could it be possible that the cuckoo clocks of Switzerland were calling my name? As I researched, and researched, and researched, I came across this place called the Czech Republic. Centrally located, plenty of history, and amazing TEFL certification programs throughout the country, as well as a booming job market that would get me paid in no time. Not to mention, it was safe, affordable, and clean. It allegedly has excellent beer. This was my kind of place. Seemingly everyone who had ever taught there loved it and wound up staying there. Done deal.

I got my passport, bought my first-ever airline ticket, and spent far, far too much Koruna (okay, I did actually spend American dollars, but I have to get used to saying the Czech currency). After going through 3852614750 steps to make sure every “I” was dotted and “T” was crossed.

I am ready to embark on my journey.

What exactly is that journey? What awaits me now? For starters, I will undertake four weeks of rigorous training at The Language House TEFL in Prague. Then, I will have another piece of paper that means even more to me than the six-figure one I brought up earlier. This certificate gives me the freedom to teach English as a Second Language in any country I want. Ideally, I want to stay in the Czech Republic or go elsewhere in Europe. Somewhere out there, there is that one child, teen, or adult (yes, in TEFL, you can teach adults, too) whose life I can change forever.

The dream is about to become reality. I don’t have to turn on a TV to see Europe anymore, and that is such as a special feeling. It’s time for me to change the world.