Curtis Colegrave: Liberal Studies
Curtis Colegrave graduated from the Liberal Studies program in 2007. After travelling for a few months through Southeast Asia, he started working as an English language teacher in Seoul, Korea. He sent us this update in 2012.
"Since graduating the Liberal Studies program, I have enjoyed my life in East Asia. After backpacking for a few months, I decided to settle down in South Korea for a while, as the job opportunities were bountiful for teaching English. After working for a private academy for a couple of years and completing a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate, I landed a job as an English conversation instructor at a college in Seoul.
"Since I was fortunate enough to find a job that allowed me to teach in the mornings, I was able to gain entry into an evening MEd program through Framingham State University. The university flies instructors over to Korea to teach foreign teachers. I have completed one semester, and am on track to graduate in the summer of 2013. I was extremely lucky to find this opportunity to further my education while I am teaching abroad.
"Personally speaking, I was also lucky enough to meet my wife, who also happens to be a teacher here in Korea. We are currently happily living in Seoul, with plans to start a family in the future. Our future plans are to eventually move back to Canada, and seek employment in British Columbia somewhere. While the task ahead may be a difficult one, we are trying to ready ourselves both financially and through furthering our education.
"The most important quality I find in myself after taking the liberal studies program, as you might be able to see, is that I am a lifelong learner. The liberal studies program, through its seminar-based learning allowed me to enjoy the company of other lifelong learners, and more importantly, to not view education as a means to an end. As the years go by after my graduation, I seem to find different qualities in myself that I can at least partly attribute to my educational experience in the liberal studies program. My ability to meet deadlines, to not stress out over assignments, to be prepared to carry out my lessons, to view the world in through an objective lens, to take time to listen to others’ opinions, to understand what a good teacher-student relationship is. I could go on, but whether it is through excellent example from the professors in the liberal studies program, or whether it is through self-exploration and analysis, there is so much to gain from the program. It goes without saying, I not only recommend the liberal studies program, but hope to remain a part of it for many years to come."