This is the site I'll likely be teaching at this summer, which I explain in my letter below. (no! I am not turning my blog into a fundraiser. But I wanted to share my plans here because I am excited about them.) Mongolia will be a rather different experience from Oxford.
Dear
family and friends,
Last year when I began working
with Lim from South Korea, I didn’t realize it would become more than a
tutoring job. The first time I met with Lim I was impressed, not just by her high-energy attitude toward improving
her English, but also by her outgoing personality and her genuine desire to get
to know me. Soon we started getting
together outside of tutoring. She showed
me how to make Korean egg rolls and soup, and we talked about South Korea and
families and God and American movies. What
started as a job turned into a strong and real friendship.
Friendships with students like Lim have formed some of my most enriching college experiences. These experiences have made me seriously
consider teaching in an international setting after I complete my education
degree. Actually, that’s the reason I’m
writing this letter: I want to share
with you an opportunity I have to teach English in Mongolia this summer.
I’ll be spending five weeks (June
20-July 30) at a beautiful site in rural Mongolia, working with high school
students in a summer-camp setting. (Click
here to learn more about the
organization.) The program is both
academic and relational. I’ll be doing
the same kinds of activities I did with Lim – direct teaching and coaching in
English skills, as well as simply getting to know my students and sharing
cultural and life experiences with them.
When I sat down to start this
letter, I asked myself again, “Why
exactly do I want to go Mongolia?” I
began mulling over memories with my international friends, and wrote this in my
journal:
“I remember talking with Kim after
a tutoring session about redemption and forgiveness, and her statement, ‘It
makes me want to go home and tell my cousins because they do not know this.’ I remember June and Jung and Lee around our
kitchen table, singing and making Korean pancakes. And I remember Easter Sunday with Lim and
Sunny at Dianna’s, and Sunny confiding to Dianna and me, ‘We call you – the
angels.’
“This is why I want to go to Mongolia –
to touch students’ lives and be touched.
And it starts with teaching English.”
I’ve never imagined myself writing
this kind of letter, and it’s a humbling and soul-searching process. I’ve prayed and sought advice and thought
hard about why I want to go. It’s for the
students first, but to be honest, it’s for me too. I’ll learn as much as I teach. I’ll be pushed out of my comfort zone into an
entirely new setting. I’m hoping that
serving students in Mongolia this summer will help me decide if I should pursue
international teaching long-term.
I’d love to share more about the
program with you in person and hear your feedback. The entire five weeks costs a total of
$3,800, an amount that the program requests its participants to raise through
support from family and friends. [Click here for more information.] Would you be willing to help support me in
preparing to go to Mongolia?
Thank you, both for reading this
letter, and for your interest and encouragement. I would be grateful for your financial
support, and more importantly, I covet your prayers. I’m looking forward to
making contact with you within the next few weeks. I’m excited already for what this summer
holds!
Blessings,
Caroline
Eckstrom
crlnckst@dordt.edu
[Friends, thank you
for not reproducing or displaying this letter elsewhere.]
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