ASSIGNMENT: Teacher
SITE: Chung Jen Junior College
COUNTRY: Taiwan
Debbie is from Milan, MI and is a member St. Joseph Church in Ypsilanti. She has a Bachelors degree in Education from Eastern Michigan University and a MATESOL from Madonna University. She has two grown children. Debbie is teaching English at Chung-Jen Junior College of Nursing. The school is a combination high school and Junior College. In addition to teaching English, Debbie’s Christian witness is an equally important aspect of her ministry. The Sisters requested not only someone with experience teaching English, but a person with missionary zeal.
IN HER OWN WORDS:
Teaching ESL classes to high school students in Taiwan is a different kind of mission. Chiayi is a big, bustling city. And when my students walk in with their MP3 players plugged into their ears, or I am snatching away cell phones that they are not permitted to use during class, I find myself wondering if I am really making a difference in their lives.
But when they greet me in the hallway with their big smiles and “hellloooo teacher” or when one of my 2nd year students comes up and puts her arm through mine and asks me how I am, or when several students stop by my (office) cubicle and we watch YouTube videos together, I realize that they have made such a tremendous difference in my life. This has been the hardest job I’ve ever loved.