BRENDA FAZ

I read somewhere that "if you're not constantly reinventing yourself, then what are you doing with your life?" I recently realized this is what I have been doing my whole life. 

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I didn't set out to be an educator when I ventured out into the magical world that is higher education. I first learned of the world and all the possibilities it held when I was studying International Relations at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. I realized I loved learning about the world, yet did not want to do in the capacity of anything political. I knew I wanted more than that. I didn't quite know what, though. 

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When wandering out of the Career Services office of FIU, I saw a (paper) ad for English Teachers wanted in South Korea. South Korea? Not a place I always fantasized about going. Yet, something was not going to let it go in my subconscious. So I listened. I signed up, went through the whole process, which back then was not a lot, got on a plane and left to Jeonju-Si, South Korea.

 

After a few months living in snow, I realized I needed somewhere a bit

warmer. Remembering doing research and finding a job purely online in

the year 2008, feels like a black and white movie. Thailand would be my

next adventure. And oh what an adventure it was. Thailand stole my

heart right from under me. I didn't even struggle. I welcomed it. Thailand

was the place I found my path. I was teaching at an all girls Christian

school in the heart of Bangkok. It was during this time that I made some

amazing friends from all over the world and realized I wanted to continue

working in education more seriously. With my heart shattered into a million pieces, I returned to the USA, more specifically Texas, to obtain a teaching license and Masters in Education at the University of St. Thomas. 

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My time in back in my home city allowed me to better connect with my roots. I became a bilingual teacher to a group of first and second graders in a low income, inner city school in Houston, Texas. I felt a deep connection to my students as I was a product of bilingual education. As much as I adored my time working with the immigrant population, I had two huge ticket items that called me.

 

1. Having spent almost two years living overseas and having extraordinary experiences, I just could not forget. I was ruined. I missed Thailand. I missed who I was in Thailand. 

 

2. I just couldn't make ends meet. I was at the bottom of the pay-scale in a public inner-city school. I had to borrow my dad's old car because I couldn't afford my own. I knew the type of life I could have as an uncertified teacher overseas, and yet, my standard of living was lower in Texas as a certified teacher. I couldn't help but feel resentful of the fact that I struggled more now both financially and personally because I worked about 60 hours a week. In Thailand, I worked 30 hours a week.    

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Eventually enough was enough. I signed up for a job fair in February 2011. By August that same year, I was on a plane to Dubai. Dubai was GOOD to me. I grew about 1,000% professionally. I learned many difficult life lessons. I got out of debt. I paid for two Masters Degrees. I grew a portfolio! Me. An investment portfolio! I visited some amazing places that never in a million years would I have thought I would ever visit. If you are a child of the jungle, the desert will wear on you though.. 

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I needed more green in my life. I needed a more authentic experience. So I went to basically the other side of the spectrum from Dubai --> Myanmar. Oh did I get authentic. Myanmar almost broke me. But Myanmar also made me. I found peace in the beautiful chaos. I also found a very important piece to this puzzle. I realized how much joy it brought me to help other teachers. What's better, I found joy in helping teachers help themselves. I found coaching. 

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Brasil, oh Brasil. By this point, I've seen quite a bit of the world. Yet when I moved to Brasil, I rarely left her. Partly because of the pandemic, partly because I birthed a tiny human. I have a feeling that with all those factors aside, nothing would have likely changed. Brasil holds probably the most special place in my heart for a many personal yet also professional reasons. The idea for this project was inspired in Recreio, a barrio in Rio de Janeiro. It was there, during some of the most difficult times in education, that I realized I had something I could share with other fellow educators, a way to a different life while still doing what you love. 

 

The newest experience to add to my repertoire is moving countries with a baby and a dog. Costa Rica has likely been one of my easiest moves yet the most complicated. Every phase in living overseas allows you to level up, not without earning it of course. Yet the moves get easier as you learn from the challenges. And there's this strange satisfaction in remembering all the places, actual physical places, that have led you to where you are sitting and reading this. How you wouldn't have it any other way. 

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TBC..