4 Years Later! CSET in Mandarin Passed! Full-time job found! Credential is Cleared!

Hello again! It has been so long that I had almost forgotten that I had started my blog 4 years ago as I was in the process of obtaining my Bilingual Authorization for Mandarin. Thank you Facebook the ability to "share my memories".

Well, fast forward 4 years later... I passed the CSET exams in Mandarin and received my bilingual authorization in 2012 and found a position teaching Mandarin Immersion on San Diego the following year!

Who knew that I would be where I am today, I for one didn't think so. Even after graduating with my Masters degree did not help finding a job. I am very glad I finished while I still had tuition reimbursement at my other job. Sadly, tuition continues to rise even as I type this...

Sometimes you just have to take a chance... and that's what I did in 2013 when I attending a workshop at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. I was still working part time for the Orange County Department of Education (reviewing Mandarin Curriculum) when I came across a workshop specifically for Mandarin-Immersion teachers! That's a rarity in itself! I decided, what do I have to lose? I will fork over the $125.00 and see what I get.

On that day of the workshop I met teachers, principals, and administrators from far and wide. Some who had a Mandarin program while others were interested in starting one. It was a great chance to network as I was still looking for that "full-time teaching job" in order to "clear" my credential. I will write another post on clearing your credential for those of you who are curious. =) Here's the post for it. Clearing your Credential in California

The keynote speaker that day was Dr. Lilly Cheng of SDSU's Confucius Institute. You can read more about her here. She is a tiny woman with a lot of "fire and spunk".  I was immediately drawn to her knowledge and enthusiasm for teaching Mandarin. Back in 2013 I was still in my early days of learning more about Mandarin and all the components of it. One of her examples was the word: 合 which means cooperation and this word comes from 3 smaller words: 人，一，口.  The word means people 人，one 一 ， and mouth 口 essentially translating to cooperation and unity of working together. Chinese can be a very literal language with its meaning that I find ways to remember it easier.

At the end of that workshop, I was pooped out... and I had thought about going home right at 3pm. But at the moment, I thought I would ask her if she knew of any job opportunities. I had already asked around with some of the other principals that day but most were only considering the program or none had any teaching positions available. Finally, I got the nerve to ask the keynote speaker Dr. Cheng if she knew of any job opportunities. I told her I had my preliminary teaching credential, my masters, and my Mandarin authorization, plus I spoke both Cantonese and Mandarin. After chatting for a few minutes about my background and asked if I would be willing to move to San Diego. I said, "Sure, why not." (I had already thought about moving overseas to teach English at the time). Then she immediately called a principal and gave a nice little spiel about me being, "a young lady here who would be a great candidate for your school." She passed the phone to me and continued with networking.

From there, I interviewed and met with the principal and Dr. Cheng again at another workshop. I was hired to teach a self-contained 1st grade class, teaching both Mandarin and English.

The rest is history... Here I am now entering my 4th year as a Mandarin teacher. I have been teaching Kindergarten Mandarin for the last 2 years and it will be my 3rd year.

I am thankful for all the opportunities along the way and all the people I have met who have continued to support me in this quest to teach Mandarin.

A later post to come on visiting China, studying abroad, and finding a Mandarin class locally as well.

Thanks for reading! =)