Taking advantage of your CSB+SJU network opportunities

Graduating from college tends to bring about mixed emotions. Likewise, the decisions leading up to and after graduation often feel overwhelming. At least, this was the way I felt leading into my senior year at SJU.

I felt anxious about graduating into a post-Great Recession job market. I wanted to become a high school teacher after graduating, but there were few openings in Minnesota.

I considered teaching abroad after Professor Richard Bohr had a Johnnie graduate, Vinh Ho, share his experiences teaching abroad during a lesson in his Chinese history class.

I worried that teaching abroad might not be a good fit, so I shared my concerns with Professor Bohr. During these office hours chats, Professor Bohr was a phenomenal listener.

He shared the names of staff members I could contact at our sister school in Chongqing, China. Likewise, he connected me with a fellow SJU graduate, Cory Becker-Kim, already teaching English at Southwest University.

I was excited to learn that our partner school was looking for a new teacher to join them the month after I graduated. I accepted a position as an English teacher at Southwest University.

I loved my time in China, and the lessons I learned changed my life for the better. My current job at Minnetonka High School is teaching Chinese Immersion Social Studies, and I know I would not have had an opportunity to pursue this opening without the extra support of my CSB+ SJU network.