Part 23: There are somethings you've just gotta do in life... I've decided, after much soul-searching, that I should try my hand at teaching. At first I thought, in a brief moment of lunacy, that I might make it as a professional poker player. Sadly I'm missing the one key attribute a player needs. That of being able to win. Plus I have no money to gamble with. I've thought about teaching before as you may already know if you read my job-hunt series (and if you haven't, why not?!). I suppose I never got around to it then because I ended up with a full time job and it went to the back of my mind. But I'm getting restless for a new challenge and, like the teaching advert says, I want to use my head – mind you, using my head could mean anything in this crazy post-Zidane world.
 | | Moving to Korea? |
For a few months I've been flip-flopping over the idea of teaching English as a second language in a foreign country. The money's apparently not bad and I'm starting to realise that I might soon be tied down by commitments that would turn such an adventure into a dream. I made enquiries and found Korea to be an ideal location. Free accommodation, free flights, cheap living, a completely new culture to experience and a similar salary to what I'm on now. But then the doubts started to creep in. I was getting interviews left, right and centre which was concerning since I have no teaching experience or qualifications. And when I spoke to people over the phone they kept saying things like ‘So, can you start in two weeks?' Two weeks? Two weeks! Either they throw you in at the deep end or they get through a high turnover of teachers. Probably both. | "Like the teaching advert says, I want to use my head – mind you, using my head could mean anything in this crazy post-Zidane world." | | Rob |
In the end I was forced to put the idea on the back burner as my passport is due to expire in under a year so I can't commit myself to a 12 month contract. Writing that makes it look like an excuse. It's probably is an excuse. If I really wanted to go I would, as they say, make things happen. Is this one of those should-never-have-regrets moments? Maybe, but I am doing the next best thing that might give me the confidence to do it in the future. I've decided to do a postgraduate certificate in education (P.G.C.E). Things, however, aren't as easy as they seem these days. In order to do the course I have to make some pretty serious decisions about how much it's going to cost me. University education was expensive when I last did it, but now the costs seem even more astronomical.
 | | Back to school? |
The university that I am applying to charge a flat cost of £3,000 for the course. Not the greatest incentive in the world, especially as the government is crying out for teachers. The cost is somewhat offset by a healthy training bursary I would receive for doing the course. But it hardly seems logical to get a bursary only to give a large stake of it of it to the university. It gets more complicated than that, however. Through various grants, loans and other financial what-nots I have learned that since I am 25, treated as an independent and will have no income if I do this course, my local education authority might pay approximately 90% of my university course fees anyway. Don't bother trying to guess how many forms I've had to fill out for all this because I've lost count myself. But what the hey! The are somethings you've just gotta do in life. This might as well be one of them. Random thought: And now the BBC have gone and complicated matters further by offering me an interview. Can't get a moment's peace can I? | 
