My JOURNEY
Dubai in the sky feels like on top of Dubai, literally. I took this picture on the plane headed to the UAE. Photo by Destiny Dickerson.
For my first blog post, I wanted to discuss something close to my heart: living abroad. Living abroad has been a dream for me for as long as I can remember. Over time, my mind has never changed with wanting to move overseas. It has altered location-wise, but my wish to move has remained unchanged. At ten years old, I told myself Tanzania was the place for me after doing a project on the country in the 3rd grade. Tanzania is still a beautiful place for me. I would still love to visit someday, but living there has changed. After getting older and entering my teens, I discovered alternative places and things that interest me, and I was still learning about myself. K-pop and J-pop (Korean and Japanese) music became popular among other girls I was friends with in school. Those friends and I used to talk about the K-pop stars we loved, and not only did I love the music, but I also fell in love with Korean dramas. My favorite was “That Winter, the Wind Blows”; I was obsessed. Asian music and movies weren’t the only things I loved, but the culture and people were unique to me, and learning about another culture fascinated me. I was 14 during this time, and while other girls my age would be focused on their schoolwork or even checking out boys, I looked at ways to leave the United States. LEAVING THE UNITED STATES WOULD BE MY TOP PRIORITY once I reach the age where I could go out independently.
Around this time, I was researching heavily, and the words TEACHING ABROAD came across my computer screen. There were prominent YouTubers in 2012-2013 who were significant in South Korea for teaching English: “Charlycheer” and “MeganMoon.” These two YouTubers gave much information regarding teaching abroad and living in South Korea. South Korea was a massive spot for teaching English during this time because of the K-pop scene and the pay. After coming across this information and doing more profound research, I shared this information with my mom about teaching English because she was interested in moving abroad but needed to learn how to get started. Over the years, we continue to come back to moving abroad, and nothing has changed. We’ve had several obstacles come our way since 2012, but one thing is sure: our dreams have never changed. I’m 24 years old now, and I’m amazed at how an older version of myself still has the same dreams as the younger me. After graduating in December 2023, my goal is to leave the United States and start a new life, living abroad for the first time at the beginning of 2024.