I came to Thailand from Spain. I grew up in a small city in the centre of Spain. Since I was a child I wanted to be a teacher because I loved studying, going to school and I had the chance to have some amazing teachers that inspired me.
While I was at university studying a degree to be an English Teacher in Spanish schools, I found out my passion for the English language and started travelling thanks to several scholarships that I obtained from the Spanish government.
I started travelling only during the summers to improve my English skills and got the amazing opportunity to travel to England, Canada and the US and live with different families for a month or two at a time as well as got to know people from around the world.
After I finished my first degree, I kept on my studies and went on to complete another degree to be an educational counsellor. Unfortunately, Spain was not a good place to work because of the economic crisis and after a few short-term jobs, I decided to move to England.
I started off by doing some volunteering artwork which was a really amazing experience. However, after a while, the teacher within me started to rebel and I decided to move on to teaching again.
I worked with a charity that had opened a new school. I worked as a volunteer teaching assistant at the beginning and then I took on the kindergarten teacher role. I worked for that school as a volunteer for three years and this really taught me how deeply I can bring benefit to kids as well as benefit myself from teaching. I learnt that as teachers we have the opportunity to take part in the development of children not only by teaching the academic curriculum but also providing the kids with some tools that will be very helpful for the rest of their lives in many different aspects.
Unfortunately, after almost four years of full volunteering, I ran out of resources and needed to find a paid job so I decided to leave England and try in a different part of the world.
I stayed with my family for a few months trying to figure out what to do and where to go and somehow I found out about Thailand which was a complete stranger to me at that time.
Within one month I decided to leave Spain again and came to Phuket to complete a TEFL course so that I could have more opportunities to work as a teacher around the world.
That first month in Thailand was great, I was amazed by the way of life and how people take life in a more relaxed way. So, I decided to look for a job in Thailand. I went to the east coast of Thailand and worked as an English teacher for a private school for a few months. It was a good experience that allowed me to get to know the thai system and I also met many amazing teachers.
However, I realised that I was missing being able to help children in a deeper and more meaningful way than just teaching English and therefore started to look for other types of job.
I had read things about PHBTU while I was doing my TEFL course and right away I was drawn by the foundation and its purpose so as soon as I discovered that they were looking for teachers I saw the great opportunity to be able to take part in this inspiring project. With help from my sponsor, MontAzure, I was able to join the team and start teaching soon after.
When I arrived again in Phuket I was so excited to start working and meet the children at both schools where I work. It was a challenging start as it always is in a new job but the children quickly got my heart and working with the team of amazing teachers and volunteers gave me more reasons to love it. The students always seem so happy to see me even if I am not one of their teachers and they learn very quickly.
Working with unprivileged children has brought me a new perspective on life that makes me keep striving to improve my skills as a teacher as well as a person trying to be the best I can be.
My goal for this year is to enjoy every day and take the most of this great opportunity.
I would like to thank the foundation for giving me this amazing opportunity as well as to all the sponsors and in particular, I would like to express my gratitude to MontAzure for sponsoring the English Programme for Anuban 1, 2 and 3 at Anuban Kamala School.
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