Catching UP
During the past year, my time was mostly invested into five different areas. These areas included: education, work, family, community, and personal development. In August, I graduated with my B.S. in Business Management from Biola University and I obtained the TESOL Expert certification from the American TESOL Institute which includes 200 hours of training and the TESOL for Children, TESOL Advanced, and TESOL for Business certificates. During my senior year of university, I began an internship with CommIT Enterprises, Inc. where I have been working as a Video Graphics Designer. Most of my responsibilities during the internship have related to producing and editing video-educational content. This past year I have focused a lot on family and prioritizing quality time. I also invested in building relationships in the local community through hosting local events and gatherings. Finally, I have been making efforts to prioritize my own physical, mental, and emotional well-being through exercise, organization, and edification.
English Program in Korea
Aside from these main areas of my life, I have been going through the application process for EPIK. EPIK is a program affiliated with South Korea’s Ministry of Education. The program brings in native English teachers and places them in public schools throughout South Korea. EPIK encourages cultural exchange and seeks to contribute to the strong relationships between South Korea and the seven countries which are eligible for the program. I first learned about EPIK in 2021 when I was researching professional opportunities for foreigners in South Korea. I kept the program in my mind as I pursued by degree and during my senior year of university, I decided to apply.
There are several reasons that I was interested in joining EPIK, but the core motivations include: cultural experiences, immersion opportunities, professional development, and quality of life. I have been interested in living in South Korea because I have an interest in the culture and history of the country. Living there will provide me with opportunities to learn about Korea through experiences and greater access to resources on Korean history and culture. I have also been studying the Korean language and will continue doing so in the future. Immersion in South Korea will give me the best opportunity to utilize the Korean language and improve my language skills as fast as possible. As I have become more interested in South Korea, I have also become interested in professional opportunities there and considered careers in industries which are most prevalent in South Korea. I have always had an interest in living outside of the United States, but when I have considered possible locations, one of the most important subjects to me is quality of life. This includes consideration of healthcare, housing, politics, society, safety, food, education, affordability, and entertainment (potentially other subjects as well). I found South Korea to be one of the best options for me based on considering all of the areas that I found most important to my quality of life. The EPIK program specifically offers some incredible benefits for participants. These benefits include: competitive salaries, amazing health coverage, rent-free housing, and more. Additionally, obtaining an E-2 visa (the relevant visa for this type of work in South Korea) was much more practical for me at this time than other visas and suited my budget and long-term goals best.
Long-Term Goals
I have a few longer-term goals relevant to the next few years (listed in no particular order):
Currently, I plan to enroll in either Fall of 2025 or Spring of 2026 in a graduate program to obtain my Master’s Degree. Right now, I am considering an MBA program and MIT (Master’s of Information Technology) at Virginia Tech but I have not made a final decision yet.
I would like to obtain an F-2 visa. This is a residency visa in South Korea which would allow me to have more freedom in terms of professional opportunities. Most working visas require sponsorship from your employer, which I consider to be less stable than a non-sponsored visa. So, as long as I continue to prefer living and working in South Korea, I will be working towards a residency visa by making achievements which will help me earn points toward this type of visa.
I am currently most interested in working full-time as an illustrator someday. Specifically, I have become interested in Webtoons and the unique format of them. I plan to produce some original Webtoon series in the future.
I am working on digitizing family records and organizing information about my family. I have been focusing primarily on my maternal grandfather and his accounts of his life and family. My grandfather immigrated to the United States from Cuba in the 1960’s and kept some detailed journals of his life experiences. These are the main documents which I am working to digitize and preserve for myself and my family.
Finally, I plan to document my life as I pursue these goals through blogging. In the future, I may also post videos or content on social media platforms to share information about my progress and life experiences as I pursue thee goals.
What To Expect
In the future, I will be sharing more detailed information on my experiences during the EPIK application process and program. The current plan is to post about my experiences with EPIK every Monday at 5 a.m. (EST). I plan to share about my progress towards the other goals that I listed, but those updates may be less frequent and will be on a different schedule. I have allowed comments on my blog, so if you have any questions about what I share, feel free to ask below!