Another School Year, Another Adventure

I know you’ve heard me say it before, but this time I promise, I’m about to embark on the BIGGEST ADVENTURE YET!

I always think that I am about to go on the biggest adventure yet, but then God continues to prove to me how faithful and good He truly is. He continuously challenges me to grow and presents opportunities that I never even thought were possible or would have imagined.

I returned home in December after a very unexpected turn of events. Plans for the year had changed and I was no longer needed in my teaching position. To be very honest, it was a very difficult adjustment. I initially thought I was going to be out of the country until June, and now I was back in Texas with no plan on what I was going to do next. I really struggled. I didn’t want to go back into the classroom full time, but I was unsure of where I was being called next. I applied for about 15 jobs with only one interview, only to be told that I wasn’t a good fit. I was really down on myself for a while and was constantly worrying about finances. During this time, I had no idea what God was walking me through and what he was preparing me for. I look back now and see how God orchestrated every step of the way perfectly.

While applying for different jobs, I knew I could always fall back on subbing in the school district I grew up in. I have many years of experience and substitutes are always needed. I was able to sub pretty quickly and picked up many sub jobs across the district. I also started tutoring a number of students after school. Although I genuinely enjoyed subbing and tutoring, I was still unsure of what God was calling me to do this fall. Going back to the traditional classroom in America was unappealing to me because I had this burning desire to be abroad somewhere else. I spent many hours researching different visas, international schools, remote jobs, and I could never find anything that I would be qualified for. I didn’t realize how hard it is to get a working visa in Europe as an American. I spent countless hours looking into every opportunity to teach abroad again….

And with all that being said, I’m finally at a place in which I can share the exciting news!

I’M MOVING TO GERMANY!

During the research process, someone mentioned that I should look into the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). I didn’t know much about teaching with the Department of Defense, but figured I might as well take a look into it. I decided to go ahead and apply to see what would happen. I quickly learned that this process was incredibly lengthy, intense, and extremely confusing. I joined a group on Facebook of teachers that are also trying to get a job with the DODEA and found it to be a very helpful group. I also quickly learned from the group that teaching with the DODEA was extremely competitive. There are thousands of applicants trying to teach around the world with DODEA and people wait months, even years for an interview. I submitted my application in mid April and after about two weeks of my application being under review, I received notification stating I was approved to teach grades 1-3. A week later, I got an email asking if I wanted to interview at a school in Germany. Of course I accepted the interview, but didn’t leave the interview feeling very confident. I haven’t had a proper teaching interview in almost 6 years so my nerves were very present. I never heard back about the interview and after about a month, I went ahead and accepted the fact that I didn’t receive that position. Weeks passed by and I still had not heard anything about any other positions available. I was losing a little hope at the possibility of teaching abroad with DODEA. At the beginning of June, I received an email from a different school in Germany asking to set up an interview with the principal and team. Having a previous interview under my belt, I had a better idea of what to expect this time around. While I was preparing for my interview, I just kept praying that I would leave the interview feeling confident and feeling like I left everything on the table.

The amount of peace I felt during the interview was clearly God. I left the interview feeling so confident. Immediately after the interview, I texted my mom and said “I crushed that interview”. Of course I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I knew I left it all there. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. The principal gave me information about the selection process and what the next steps were. He informed me that he was hoping to select a candidate by the end of the next day and that he would submit the names to HR of his top two candidates. Rightfully so, there is always priority to someone with a military spouse, veteran, or any connection with the military so I knew there was always a chance that someone had higher priority. Once the candidate was selected, it would take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to get the tentative offer. I was hoping I would hear something in the next week or so.

I went to lunch that afternoon and casually checked my email while I was there. I happened to look in my spam folder, and sure enough, I HAD A TENTATIVE OFFER! I received the offer just 5 hours after the interview. As you can imagine, I was completely shocked.

I have spent the entire summer working through loads and loads of paperwork. There were a few days dedicated to paperwork that I called my mom on average 10 times a day just to have some help. There were a lot of different forms that needed to be filled out, fingerprints taken, official passports created, and lengthy background checks done. Fortunately for me, this process hasn’t taken too long compared to other teachers who have accepted positions, but I definitely had to practice patience.

This week, I officially accepted my final offer! I will be teaching first grade on a US military base in Germany! This process has been extremely lengthy and it’s still unclear when I will officially start. There’s a few more steps in the process that could push back my start date but as of now, my start date will be August 28th.

The summer has been full of a lot of emotions as I prepare for a big change. Of course I’m so excited and have seen God prepare me for this move in so many ways, but I am a little nervous to be starting a new chapter of my life completely alone. I truly believe that if anyone is able to do this, it’s me. I trust that God will walk me through the hills and the valleys during this experience and I’m so thankful to have a God to confide in during the entire process.

There’s so much more to this process that I can’t wait to share. I will write another blog in the near future discussing more about the process, my school and team, and my living situation. If you want to follow along my new journey as a teacher living in Germany, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog to get updates.