"To Live Will be an Awfully Big Adventure"

Last week, I received a call from a girl in the ILP (International Language Program.) She told me someone had given her my name and number and told her I'd be interested. Now, usually, I just say something sarcastic to these kinds of callers and hang up, but I've actually looked a lot into going abroad and teaching kids English. Also, this girl turned out to be a girl from home that was my cousin's trek sister. Small world right? Anyways, I chatted with this girl for a while, finding out all about the program, whatever I didn't already read about on the website, and got really excited. I feel like this is something I really want to do.

I love kids. I always have. I grew up in a family of 10 kids, I have been a Sunbeam teacher, and I worked as a substitute teacher right after I got out of high school. As a sub, I worked with kids anywhere from kindergarten, to 8th grade, and with the exception of 6th graders, I loved and got along with all of them. I also plan on having a very plentiful posterity. Haha just kidding. But seriously.

Also, I want to see the world. All of it. I mean, it's always been a dream of mine, but when I was a junior in high school I decided I would somehow make it real. See, I've loved history for as long as I can remember, and by the time I was a junior, I had taken all the history classes I could. But! There was an AP Art History class, so I took that, (with my best friend Anysa Price, best time of my life) and absolutely fell in love with everything I saw. Unfortunately though, I could only see pictures, and as beautiful as they were, I decided I wanted to see it all for real. However, when I told my parents I wanted to backpack across Europe, they told me I'd get raped and probably die, so I have yet to leave the country.

But then, I get this phone call, and it's like fate. I get to see other parts of the world, and teach kids! What could be better right? I'm really gunning for being placed in Lithuania. I never actually had heard of Lithuania before she told me I could go there, so I've been doing some research, and it looks beautiful. I would love to go there. Plus, I would have the weekends off and vacation days where I can go wherever I want, and you better believe I'll call up Nathan Gee, the British man that stole my heart last summer, and he can show me parts of Europe. It'll be such an adventure. Of course, I'll have to save enough money and decide when I'm going to go, but I am so jazzed about this. Just thinking about it and praying about it feels so good. My dad says I should focus on school and getting my education for now, but even the prophets have said that education is not limited to just schooling. I think there's so much that I can do and learn if I were to be a part of this program. I could touch so many childeren/families' lives, as I know they would touch mine. I don't want to be afraid to take chances. I want to see the beauties that this world has to offer, things that I will be able to teach my own children about. I'm ready. "To live will be an awfully big adventure"