Ahsa Yoo – 2010 – An American in South Korea

I found out about Reach To Teach through a friend who was recruited to work in Taiwan. I have known that I wanted to teach in Korea since my sophomore year of college, but I didn’t know how to get started. It was the end of my senior year, and I was getting nervous about finding work, and my friend directed me to their web site. Reach To Teach was great. I got a response within two weeks, and an interview was set up. Mike, my interviewer, answered all my questions and made me feel at ease with the huge decision I was making. Mitch Gordon was extremely helpful and supportive through the entire process. I emailed him all the time with all types of questions, and he responded right away.

As for teaching in Korea, it’s great. (I work at a private after school institute or hagwon.) I’m Korean American, so I can speak and understand the language. My school and I decided to hide this from the students. Now that I’ve been given more work, I had to tell the students the truth. I was worried that my relationship with my students would be ruined, but our relationship has gotten better! They come to me after class and try to talk to me in English, and if it gets hard, they’ll say sorry and speak in Korean. It’s uncanny how much I came to love the students within six months!

I’m glad I went with Reach To Teach. I have a friend who found a school on his own, and he ended up quitting because of how badly the school treated him. Thanks to Reach To Teach, I’m having such a great time with both my coworkers and students! They were able to find a school that was perfect for me! I see that they’ve expanded in Korea, so after my year is up, I’ll turn to them to help me find another position in a public school 😀

– Ahsa Yoo