Teacher Recruiter Specialist

Who is Jordan and why is he working at Footprints? I guess that’s the question that I’m going to endeavor to answer in this “bio”. For the sake of filling up as much space as humanly possible, I’ll start this lovely story off way back in July of 1978, a fantastic year indeed. This was the year that I came into the world, born in Toronto, Ontario. I knew I wanted to teach English within five minutes of life on earth and made that my life long goal. I was also cognizant of the fact that I would likely not get hired until I had done some schooling, kindergarten at the very least. Upon completion of kindergarten, and my subsequent application to teach English overseas, it became clear to me that I actually needed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in order for my application to be considered. Blessing young minds with my plethora of knowledge would have to be put on hold for a little while.

After many years of schooling and fond memories too numerous to list, I was on my way to university in Montreal, Quebec. This was a major step for me as it was my first time away from my family for any significant amount of time. During the U-Haul drive out to Montreal with my father, I vividly remember him saying; “Jordan, these next four years are going to be some of the best ever, so enjoy it.” I was hoping the fatherly advice would end there but he had to throw in “I want you to remember to stay focused on your school work!!!” Well, he was definitely right about enjoying those four years, and he was also correct in recommending staying focused on my schoolwork. As it turned out, I graduated with a degree in Anthropology and was a far more aware and passionate individual as a result.

To be perfectly honest (in case you thought the first paragraph was true), I had certainly considered teaching English overseas but was also open to a variety of other options. The reason I ended up actually going to South Korea was because the lovely woman that I was dating in university wanted to travel and teach English. Having the chance to spend an entire year with this lady was reason enough for me to go. Heck, I would have gone Anchorage, Alaska if she wanted to. Thus, we settled on South Korea. Next step; apply, get interviewed, receive job details, and get ready to spend a full year in a completely foreign country. Did I have any idea what to expect? Absolutely not, but that’s how I roll. I’m a very open individual and felt like I could adapt to any environment.

Adjusting in South Korea was quite smooth for me as I didn’t really have any time to be homesick or experience culture shock. I was too busy looking in every direction at all the amazing and different cultural aspects of South Korea. I quickly found out that teaching was something I thoroughly enjoyed doing despite some early challenges, especially teaching grammar (what the heck is a gerund anyway?). It wasn’t so much the concept of me being able to impress my knowledge on young minds that excited me, but rather the feeling I got when I saw smiling faces and eager learners in the classroom. I firmly believe that you need a high degree of smiles and laughter in order to enjoy your work, and teaching English provided this.

My time in South Korea was fantastic from start to finish. Whether it was playing basketball with my local Korean friends, or just enjoying a slow paced dinner, I found my experience there to be very uplifting. It truly is an amazing country with so much to offer. I learned that Korean people are some of the proudest people I’ve ever met and this was a very refreshing thing to experience. There were countless scenarios where complete strangers went well beyond the call of duty to help me in any way they could. Geez, I feel like I want to just pack it all up now and move back to Korea!

Onwards with the story…

I’ll just fast forward a few years to the point where I decided to move out to Vancouver. I had spent my entire upbringing, save for the four years in Montreal, living in Toronto and it was time for a new challenge. So off to Vancouver I went with hopes and dreams of a gold medal in skeleton luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Okay so that’s not true either. My original plan was to get accepted into the Masters program at the University of British Columbia. The only kink in the plan was the acceptance part. They didn’t accept me. Their loss I say. So with that, I began my search for employment in order to, well, basically put food in my stomach and pay for the roof over my head. I was given the contact details of Footprints through a friend and thought that I’d enjoy the opportunity to interview and converse with people from all walks of life interested in teaching English abroad. My suspicions proved correct as I absolutely love working at Footprints. We definitely work hard, but there are plenty of smiles and laughs to go around and as you know, that’s paramount for me. What do I like best about working at Footprints? I can definitely say that I absolutely love interviewing people who are genuinely excited about teaching English overseas. I feel quite lucky to be able to not only hear the eagerness in an applicant’s voice, but to also contribute to that with my own stories and experiences.

So I guess that’s it for me really. All I can say is that teaching is a very rewarding experience that does provide some significant challenges as well. However, it’s through challenging ourselves, and getting out of our comfort zone, that we all develop as individuals.

Please enjoy each day to the fullest.

That is all.

Jordan.