THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE: MY EXPERIENCE AS A TEACHER

Ana Milena Rincón Vásquez

Publicado en Capital Letter No. 4

Noviembre de 2003

The past:

When I started the major of Philology and Languages, I felt that this was only a simple course that enabled me to understand some movies and to translate my favorite songs into and from English, and maybe, in a future, I would have more opportunities because I could speak English. I considered that this career was only a parallel activity to others in my life, because I thought I needed to study a "real" career at any moment in the future. The expectations I had at the beginning were very different.

As time passed, I felt more engaged with my learning process. Although this learning became more complex, I learned a lot from subjects like civilization, literature, didactics and some others, which gave me a clearer idea about the career, and I started to enjoy working with the language. In addition, the experience of some professors made me feel confident about teaching a foreign language. I began feeling passion and I understood the purpose of all my efforts.

Those efforts could be reflected when I started working as a teacher before I graduated. I did not know that these kinds of opportunities were going to come early in my professional life. I felt very scared, but the sensation was unique because I realized that I could transmit my knowledge to other people taking into account the basis I received in my university. The experience I got was very important for me and I felt that my effort was rewarded.

The present:

As soon as I started my career as a professional teacher, I felt confused; I had a lot of questions to ask and several difficulties to solve because life outside the university is different. However, I think all the doubts I had at the beginning of the career were cleared. All the students of this major know that this career gives other kind of opportunities like working in translation, in research, for multinational companies and many others that can be successful too. Nevertheless, most of the opportunities are currently found in the teaching field; you can find many opportunities wherever you go; at the present, I am working in a very good university and I believe that my career can open more doors for me. It is the best choice I could have ever taken.

The future:

I think that my future will be excellent. Why? Because I really love what I do. I feel committed and I hope I learn more everyday of my life. Now I can say that when you teach you learn too. We have to be conscious that the most experienced teacher is the one who keeps on learning. I only want to tell students that if they really enjoy what they do, they will have a lot of success; if they put into practice all what they have learnt at the university, they will be satisfied and they will learn more from the experience. We all know that this route is very long and learning English is everlasting. The idea is to love what you do. Now you can understand that the truth is out there.