april 2006 story contest winner

Congratulations!

Mike Rios
Teach in Thailand

"Princess Chulabhorn's College Chiangrai"

I love teaching. I love hearing my students laugh. All 300 of them. And I love seeing them gain confidence as our classes pass by.

I must admit, however, I never intended on “being a teacher”. Advertising was my career. Advertising. Advertising. Advertising. I signed up, and for two years, she treated me incredibly well. But something was missing, through all the all-nighters, schmoozing clients, and paid-travel, nothing I did seemed to matter. And let’s be honest, who really cares if I helped sell an extra 100 widgets anyway?

Luckily, I had an incredible boss, who at the end of my second year, asked me to tell him about what happened with my plans to teach abroad. I was shocked that he remembered. During my first couple months, when I was still an intern, I told him about my plans to teach in Thailand after I finished my internship. Needless to say, the plans fell through, we landed a huge client, and an offer to work full-time quickly developed. For nearly two years, Thailand was never mentioned again until my boss asked me in a manner in which I thought I was certainly being fired.

“Are you letting me go?” I asked half jokingly. “I honestly haven’t thought about it for a while.” He took out a newspaper article about Thailand from the travel section, deeming the country a Hidden Gem of the Orient. “You know,” he paused, “I’ve always wanted to go to Thailand…I’ve always wished I would have taken the time to…the time to be crazy. I saw this article yesterday; did you have a chance to read it?” he asked. “Thailand. It looks like a wonderful country, I mean it has elephants who play soccer, how cool is that?” Still not quite sure where he was going with this, I waited for him to continue.

“Have you ever regretted not going? Do you sometimes wish you would have gone?”

“Sometimes, I guess, but things have been going so well here”

“Forget advertising. Forget us for a moment. Would you go there again if you were free.”

I laughed nervously, “So you are firing me.”

“Ha ha, no, I’m giving you a chance to go live. Before your car, mortgage, insurance, and, heh, girlfriend payments lock you down. I can’t make you, but I am telling you, think hard again about doing this Thailand thing for a year, keep in touch with me, and if you want, you can have your job back anytime. You have the rest of your life to work; you’re running out of time to live in exotic country while it’s still socially acceptable.”

After zip sleep that night, it was decided: I’d send my application in the next day. I was accepted a few weeks later and would be leaving that fall. I finished the summer up at the agency, and on my way out, gave one last thanks to my boss, at which he said, “Go have fun. Go be crazy. And if you ever feel like coming home, e-mail me, and I’ll fly over to Thailand, and make you stay.” With those words and a smile, I closed the advertising chapter, and flew 30 hours to the other side of the world.

As I walked towards my first class, all the kids in other classrooms were smiling and staring at me. Some whispering, some giggling, and some chasing me down the hallway. When I reached the end of the hall, I stepped in my room, where the kids immediately stood up and shouted, “Good morning teacher!” I laughed as all the nervousness I had felt prior melted away. We played loads of games, from Simon-says to Pictionary to dancing and singing competitions. I laughed all day, as did they, and we laughed for 5 months straight.

I’ll save the story in-between, as I don’t want to spoil the adventure you will soon live yourself. I will say that I’ve decided to teach another year in Thailand. By doing so I believe I’ve traded flash for simplicity, cashed-in stress for laughter, and have realized, as maybe my former boss was trying to tell me, that a chance to live, to look at your life and know you’re making a difference is truly priceless - 100 widgets will always sell, but a single student will never grow without a teacher.

Perhaps you won’t understand until you meet your kids for the first time, but I will say I almost cried when my last class was told I would be transferring schools. After their Thai teacher told them, they immediately ran up to me, asking why, some of them crying themselves. Even one of the shyest boys in class, named Off, hugged me and said “I….I…I want you to learn me, next time.”

From teaching, to studying, to volunteering abroad, everyday is a different story. Stories that transform into moments so remarkable, they almost become tangible for you to hold. While Off’s words choke me up every time, I’ll certainly cherish the moment, with countless other moments, that I nearly overlooked for a 9-5 job.