Only after leaving Jiguchon and beginning to teach at our respective new schools did the reality that we would be going home soon truly set in. The last real benchmark we acknowledged was when we were halfway done and then all of a sudden we only have 2 weeks left. While being close to the end is sad and a little scary in a way, it also provides a great opportunity to reflect on all we’ve done. We adapted to a new environment across the world, came together as a group, and built incredible relationships with our students to name a few examples. I can truly say that Duke Engage Korea filled and exceeded my expectations as an experience, and the best part is there is still more to come.
I think all of us have found teaching at our new schools to be much different than it was at Jiguchon. I personally was teaching at the Sarang school for the first week and it has been drastically different in almost all attributes. Firstly, the school is much smaller and limited to an older age range. In my class we had only 3 students and all of them were 19 or 20. Teaching so fewer students and people so close to myself in age had its benefits and drawbacks. It was definitely refreshing to have a class that actually did what you told them to do the first time, but it was also somewhat more intimidating to be lecturing my peers. All of my students were extremely receptive though, and so the first class jitters dissipated pretty quickly. Another aspect that made teaching at the Sarang school challenging was how limited our time with them was. Because we only met for 3 hour and a half sessions over the course of the week, the amount we were going to be able to teach them would be necessarily limited. But my teaching partner and I planned ahead and did our best to fit as much as we could into those 4 and a half hours. I’m definitely satisfied with the amount we got done, but the really fulfilling part of the experience was just being able to meet the students. All of them had such incredible stories to tell and eagerness to get to know us, that building bonds with them was easy. Once again as was the case at Jiguchon, my only regret wrapping up this week is that we didn’t have more time. But the end of this week means the start of a new week and I am excited for all the new opportunities teaching at the Wooridle school will provide.
– Joshua Wagner
