Northern Teaching

I feel like such a flake, writing this after all the hype I wrote 4 months ago about teaching overseas.  The truth is, I have been searching for my path for a long time now and sometimes things seem like a good fit and then aren't.  I hope this isn't one of those times. 

I have decided to go back north next teaching year. In order to explain, let me tell you a story:

 I remember the first time I met the representatives from the Kativik School Board (KSB) in Nunavik.  I was wandering around a teaching job fair, being wooed by countries that wanted me to teach there because I had a physics teachable. I wasn't quite finished my education degree and I was all excited about the many opportunities and possibilities that seemed to lay before me. Then I got to the KSB table.  I was drawn in right away by Morgan Douglas and Natasha MacDonald, both of whom were fielding questions about teaching in the far north.  I was captivated. I asked some of my own questions and then just listened to all the other questions from other interested teachers. I was hooked! I walked away from there knowing it was the right place for me. In order to make sure, I walked around again, talking to other school boards, but the glitter was off the rose, I no longer saw those as exciting possibilities. I knew that the only one for me was that northern school board.

I was not able to get an interview right away since the interest was so high in the board (they pay a LOT) so I had to walk away not knowing if they would even hire me.  Later that week I wrote to the board asking for a phone interview and got a nice letter explaining that they were no longer hiring.  I was disheartened but still determined to get a job there.  I wrote several more letters and eventually got a phone interview and was put on a list to go up north.  I got my letter in June, offering me a position in Umiujaq as a secondary 1,2 teacher.  I was ecstatic!