About a week ago, my fiance asked me if I wanted to go to an event he was planning on going to at the Provo library. I had never been to the Provo library and I comment on how pretty it is every time we drive by it, so I thought maybe I'd go if I didn't have anything else to do that night.Then I found out that there would be free pizza. Show up and listen to their presentation and get free pizza for dinner?! Of course I jumped at that opportunity! I like pizza...and hanging out with my fiance...win-win!
We signed in at the desk and I found out that the meeting was for ILP, the International Language Programs. The girl who greeted us, Ovie, had just gotten back from her mission in Estonia about three months ago and was so sweet. We picked up the ILP pamphlet, which included information about the programs, fees, and volunteer opportunities. We also picked up a flyer for each of the countries we were interested in (which turned out to be every flyer available). Right off the bat, the ones that caught my attention were China, Thailand, and Russia.
We sat down, got pizza (!!!!) and then one of the ILP representatives, Kendra, began talking about the program. ILP, she explained, is a program that sends students to foreign countries to teach children English. The program is volunteer-based and individuals must pay to participate. I have always been interested in doing a study abroad at BYU, so she caught my attention immediately! She spoke about the different countries offered and gave a little description about each. She also spoke about her own experience this past summer in Mexico. The part that surprised me most was cost! For each trip, which lists anywhere from three-five months, it costs about $2500 and includes food, housing, and travel! That's about as much as tuition at BYU for a semester, not including food, housing, and textbooks! It gets better though--some countries, like China and Russia, have a two-for-one deal! That means my fiance and I could both go for $2500, which usually wouldn't even cover airfare for both of us! I was shocked.
Afterwards, they allowed time for Q/A and people asked great questions: where will the couples stay---with a host family or in their own apartment? Will couples get to teach together? What subjects are taught? How many hours a day are the volunteers teaching? Do they stick with the same group of kids the entire time? It was so informative! We left the meeting and I was feeling so excited about life.
So what? Now what? Well...to be honest, now I find myself very distracted from my school work. When I know that opportunities like this are out there, it is so hard for me to concentrate on life here at BYU! I love school and my professors, but I want so badly to make a difference and do something more than homework everyday. That being the case, my fiance and I have discussed it and we feel like this would be an incredible opportunity for us; for our own benefit and for the benefit of others. Now we just need to figure out a time that would work for both our majors and make it so we can still graduate when we want to!
I am so grateful for ILP and programs like it that offer opportunities for students to experience life outside of the norm and meet people from all over the world. I'm especially grateful for pizza and it's ability to bring people together!
(Professional Networking Event: Extra Credit)
That is way cool that you are thinking about this. I have had a lot of friends participate in this program and go to many different countries. While I served on my mission in Russia I had the opportunity to teach english to potential investigators. It was so much fun! I learned very quickly that I had no idea how to explain English to someone who has no background in English. English is soooo complicated and often times I would just say "that's just the way it is" when students would want me to explain why we say what we say. I am sure that that opportunity will be a lot of fun for you!
ReplyDelete