If you look at the average American teacher, you will most likely see them rundown, overworked, overcrowded and sadly broke. Many people move to the United States of America to live the American Dream but not everyone has the same results. Even though there are people moving to the United States daily to search for their “dream”, there are some people moving overseas to find their own version of a dream. People are moving internationally to teach, work for oil companies, or work for businesses all over the world and I am one of those people. I am a traveling teacher and this is my story.
I grew up as a third culture kid in the international teaching setting with both parents being teachers and my life was forever changed. A Third Culture Kid is someone who has spent the majority of their childhood in a country other than the one on their (or their parents) passports. Living overseas as a kid was a blast because I was able to meet friends from so many different countries. I had seen more of the world by the time I was 13 than most adults ever do. I know how to count to 10, say hello/ goodbye, ask where the bathroom is, and sing happy birthday in many languages just from traveling. I know how to maneuver an airport and feel comfortable traveling with others or by myself. Airplanes and the next adventure excite me. To the average American kid’s eye, I was being raised in a spoiled life of a “rich kid”. The reality was that my parents made enough money to be able to save and still give their family the best life imaginable.
Being a TCK was not always all roses and glory. I lived away from my family in the States and saw my cousins grown close with my grandparents which was hard for me to see. I was not able to be in a church with a bunch of kid activities like those of my friends or family in the states. I had friends come and go in my life and as a kid, I understood that friends moved when their dad got a new job assignment. I always wanted to live that American dream where I could live in the same house my entire life, growing up down the street from my family, attend the same church for a long time or have the same best friend for most of my life. When I was in middle school, my family moved back to the states and I was able to live that life I thought I always wanted.
Life in the states was far from easy. I soon realized how sheltered I was and how grown up kids my age were. I struggled with having the “strictest parents” on campus and hated not being able to do everything my fellow classmates were doing. Looking back now, I can actually see how right my parents were withholding me back from not doing certain things with my friends. High School was a new experience. I went from a school of 1200 students K-12 to a freshman class of 1200 students until we split sophomore year. Although I was able to finally be in the same church for a long period of time, kids in my group had known each other for most of their life and it was hard to fit in. School was not much different since I needed to find where I belonged and realized quickly that I had friends in a variety of groups. Fast forward through a whirlwind of high school drama, animals, dances and a ton of football games, I decided that I wanted to attend a small college where students and teachers had some of the same beliefs I did.
I attended a small Baptist college and found students who l connected with. Some classmates grew up overseas, some grew up in small towns, somewhere coming from a high school like me, and most of them lived a sheltered lifestyle like I did. It was so nice to finally be able to connect with people who lived similarly to me. Even though I connected with many of the students, some were not able to really understand my international lifestyle and my “itch” to travel and live overseas. I knew that there were some people who still thought that I was that rich spoiled kid who had life handed to her on a silver platter. People could not really understand that life is not a piece of cake for people like me. I found friends who loved me and could understand the life I had lived. I was able to fit in with those around me more than in high school. I enjoyed my four years at school and graduated with my degree in Education and continued to have the itch to get back overseas.
I did what anyone with the travel itch needed to do. I worked for two years at a great school, packed my bags, and moved to the Middle East for my first teaching assignment. I was finally back where my heart belonged. I am still currently teaching at my first school overseas and I have loved being with teachers who enjoy the Third Culture Adult lifestyle. I have met people who lived the childhood I wanted from the States but they still had that travel itch. I feel like I have finally found the place where I belong. People of every nation, religion, background, and lifestyle are all working together overseas and traveling to the heart's content. I love being able to teach students that are living the same lifestyle that I did. I can relate to them and I know they love that I understand where they come from.
There are still people in my life that do not understand the lifestyle that I was brought up in or why I currently live overseas and love it and they may never understand. What I know is that I absolutely love living the lifestyle that I do and experiencing life the way I am. Some may consider me crazy for having gone to over 10 countries my first year overseas but I enjoyed visiting old and new countries. I love being able to experience countries and cultures as an adult. God has done so many wonderful things in my life and has allowed me to experience life this way for a reason. He has guided me throughout this life and has been beside me every step of the way. God is a major part of my life and I am excited to experience life with him. He has given me the next adventure and teaching location for my life, but that is another story in its self. So this is my story about how and why I became a Traveling TCK Teacher!
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