In one year, I see myself…

Teaching Mandarin at either an elementary or a secondary school. Let’s face it, with the over-abundance of English teachers and teacher candidates floating around, I’m probably not going to get a continuing contract as an English teacher any time soon. I’ve been told time and again that being able to teach Mandarin is most likely what will get me hired in any school district. I also know that the Vancouver School Board will definitely be needing Mandarin TTOC’s very soon, so my plan for this year is just to get my BC teaching license as soon as possible and work in the VSB teaching Mandarin.

In five years, I see myself…

Hopefully by this time I’ll have a continuing contract teaching Mandarin. My Mandarin school advisor during my practicum told me that within the next five years, many Mandarin teachers including herself will retire, so there will be a wealth of opportunities for me to get a full-time job. I plan on gaining experience for the next five years, taking on a few student teachers of my own, and doing my Master of Education in leadership sometime in the next five years.

In ten years, I see myself…

Recently, I caught up with a friend who was in the teacher education program at UBC with me last year. She told me that in conversation with another friend, they had mentioned how I do so much student government work at UBC, and that I’d probably be better suited for an administrative position. Even though I do enjoy teaching in a classroom setting and bonding with my students, I agree that my true passion is working at administrative tasks such as determining curriculum, voting on controversial policies, and examining criteria. My dream is to some day (maybe in ten years) work for the Vancouver School Board or maybe even the Ministry of Education.