How TEFL can Intertwine with an MBA

From australia.edu

The following is a guest post.  

Clearly when you first earned a degree teaching was your path. This is admirable and for those who are able to do this for a lifetime I consider you heroes. However, if you are like so many Americans you will have two different careers. Often one will inspire the other. At least that was the case for me...

I always knew travel was in my future. I wasn't always sure how I would obtain this goal, but it was almost bigger than my career plans ever were. My need for travel set me up to major in education (teaching abroad) as well as my minor in business (figured I could do anything with that). From there I kind of just followed the universe listening closely to all it had to say.

I started my teaching career in Asia. I loved the culture and was especially drawn to the Philippines. I found it interesting that each town was essentially a way to separate one family from another. I also found the cost of living to be quite remarkable. It seemed I could start a business, own a nice home and raise a family for far less than I could at home. This is where I began to feel some inspiration.

From there I moved to Africa where the culture and landscapes kept me inspired every day. I was welcomed with wonderful personalities and the children had a keen desire to learn. I loved my time there and if teaching were to be my end all I may have settled down and began my life there.

While in Africa I began to reflect on the things I learned while in the Philippines. This is when I realized that my minor could come into play. I knew my days of TEFL were not yet finished so I decided receiving my MBA would be a great thing to do in the meantime.

Clearly traveling the world wasn't the best way to obtain another degree, but with so many universities offering online degree programs it seemed possible if not extremely convenient. Cornerstone University in Michigan offers a wonderful online Christian MBA program that not only fit my needs for distance learning, but catered to my faith as well. They are not alone, but after doing A LOT of research I feel as if they have incredible amounts to offer.

As an extra bonus you will find that with TEFL you will often be presented with opportunities that go beyond teaching kids. Sometimes you will find yourself in a situation of teaching English to business owners or those who are employed by such businesses. Having experience or at the very least an education that coincides with what you could potentially teach is never a bad idea.

So here I am at another crossroad in life. My contract is up and I can do one of three things. I can continue to teach the youth of the world. I can broaden my teaching experiences by taking a job that involves me teaching the corporate world how to communicate better in English. Or I can start my life with a brand new business and home in the Asian country I fell in love with. Something tells me TEFL is not quite out of my system, but it may very well be time to incorporate my MBA with my degree in education.

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