We're Not in Kansas Anymore

About six months before I was set to graduate from college, I started freaking out.

I couldn't sleep at night. I would lay awake, wondering what the next step in my life would be. Up until that point, my life had been somewhat planned out for me- go to school, then college. But nobody tells you what to do next.

The thought of getting an 8-to-5 job job in a cubicle terrified me. The thought of getting married and having kids terrified me. The thought that I had no idea what to do with the rest of my life terrified me.

One day during this freak-out period, I was at work checking my email and read a message from my former coworker, Nate, who was spending a year in China. Nate was majoring in Chinese and had heard about the year-long program through school - spend a year in China teaching English and learn Mandarin in the process.

His mass email updates told about the new cities he was seeing, the people he met and the Chinese students he taught. I responded to his email and said that it sounded like he was having a great time. Nate and I were never very close, but for some reason, I decided to open up and share with him my unease. I told him that I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do after graduation.

In a few days, I received a response: "Come to China! You will love it!"

And for some reason, I thought, "why not?"

Nevermind that I had never even been overseas before. Nevermind that I had never lived outside Kansas. Nevermind that I had no teaching experience or experience with the Chinese language. It sounded like an adventure and I was desperate for an adventure.

Nate gave me the contact information for the program coordinator. The year-long program was organized through the University of Memphis. I emailed the professor at Memphis and told him I was interested and would like more information. He wrote me back and told me he was thrilled and in a week I received an informational packet.

The cost of the program was approximately $3,000, which included airfare and tuition for the Chinese and Teaching English as a Foregin Language (TEFL) class.