Wednesday, September 12, Southern hosted a fantastic event featuring Alumni professionals. There were professionals from a variety of fields. One area in particular, English as a Second Language, caught my eye because it sounded like a field perfect for English majors. I had heard of it before did not really know much about it. So, I decided to sit down and learn about it. I spoke with Southern graduate Isaura Hoppenstedt, class of 2013. At Southern, Isaura's major was Anthropology, but her current occupation is teaching English as Second language. I found her story fascinating. Through this field she has been able to travel and immerse herself in multiple worldly experiences. One of her teaching opportunities brought her to Thailand where she worked in a school teaching ESL (English as a Second Language). In her experience so far, there are so many job opportunities in this field, and a lot of them allow you to travel. One organization she worked with was Oxford Seminars. This organization offers courses and places individuals in jobs abroad to teach ESL. This is job opportunity where you are not only getting to travel and get paid for it, but you are also doing good. Another company that hires ESL instructors is International Rescue Committee. This committee founded in 1933 offers life-saving services to refugees fleeing from areas of the world are no longer safe due to political conflict or natural disasters.
Southern's Alumni Professional's day granted myself and many other SCSU students an opportunity to meet professionals and gain insight on future occupations we might find interesting. I know for certain, that if I had not attended this event I would not ever have considered ESL as an occupation, primarily because I knew nothing about it until talking to Isaura. I hope others who attended this event received the same experience I did. Just walking through the tent, I was overwhelmed by the amount of success I was surrounded by with these alumni professionals. If you were unable to attend this year, make sure you get next year. The environment is super relaxed and the professionals are extremely willing to talk with you and learn about what your goals are, as well as teach you about opportunities they were able to experience after graduating Southern.
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