Sunshine Challenge - Day 1

[evandar]

Challenge #1

Journaling Prompt: Light up your journal with activity this month. Talk about your goals for July or for the second half of 2025.



Honestly, I think my real goal for July is just to recover from the summer camp we ran in June. TT.TT

More seriously, I have a lot of career stuff going on and some decisions to make. My contract for my current school is up for renewal soon and I had pretty much decided to renew my contract and stay for another year. I've loved living in Vietnam so far (although my goal to actually learn Vietnamese is going...badly to say the least) and I like my school and my colleagues. I've also jumped through the appropriate hoops to actually get the renewal, so I'm all set for that.

But then. I got an email from a different company that I applied for a year ago in that initial post-CELTA application rush, offering me an opportunity in Taiwan. So now I'm thinking. I'd passed my interview with them last year, but my current company offered me a position first so I came here instead.

Argh! Options!

Speaking of options, if I do choose to stay with my current company, they're offering a prep course for DELTA module one that starts next month. DELTA is basically an equivalent to a Masters degree that's specialised in ESL teaching - it's the next step up from the CELTA I already have, which was an intense blur of studying and practice teaching and was the equivalent of doing a Bachelor's degree in four weeks. Basically, these qualifications are pure insanity.

On the plus side! It's just a prep course and it doesn't mean that I have to sit the module one exam. If I do sit the exam, and pass, then I don't immediately have to launch myself into the second and third modules. DELTA is an extended process. Module one is basically an exam. Module two is observed teaching practice, while module three is a thesis. I do want to do one eventually, and I knew that when I finished CELTA, but I didn't think I'd be in a position to begin it so soon.

However, I've also been thinking of taking the Teaching Knowledge Tests (TKT), which would also require prep. And, like, if DELTA is anything like CELTA, doing anything else at the same time is highly discouraged on the basis that you would be a lunatic to even try. So, like. Which tests should I pour my efforts into revising for?

So!

My goal for July is to make my fucking mind up about what I want to do with my life. Do I want to stay in Vietnam for another year or head over to Taiwan? Do I want to bite the bullet and start working on a DELTA, or do I want to take easier tests and get a bit more experience under my belt before I start trying?