Pre-Departure

I of course first had to apply for International Student Teaching. I began my application back in July, 2023. I had to choose my top countries, in which I chose Spain as my first pick and Ireland as my second option. 

After submitting my application, I later had to do an "interview." This was really just a one-on-one conversation that gave me more information on the country and what the next steps were.  I was then officially accepted into the program. 

I was unable to attend the Pre-Departure Orientation due to the conference tournament for volleyball, but I watched the zoom videos and completed the necessary paperwork. 

Then I got my passport and was ready to purchase plane tickets!

The official dates were confirmed for us in early January. We then purchased our round trip plane ticket to Barcelona! Our departure date was set for March 30th, and our first official day in the school was set for April 4th. 

A few weeks later, we bought plane tickets to St. Louis, France / Basel, Switzerland, because we wanted to go to Grindelwald, Switzerland with the extra days we had at the beginning. 

My host family was confirmed at the end of January, and we began communicating over email and Whatsapp! 

I finished up my student teaching at W.R. McNeill Elementary and got packed and ready to go for Europe!