Pablo Giudici, Argentina
"Teaching in the United States taught me that the whole world is there, within reach, for anybody who dares. And VIF made it possible for me."
Pablo Giudici, a VIF teacher from Argentina, taught with VIF from 2003-06. He teaches English as a second language at 71st High School in the Cumberland County School District in North Carolina.
I still remember that advertisement in the Sunday newspaper: "VIF: Teach in the USA."
It immediately caught my attention since that is something I had always dreamed of. "Why not?" I thought to myself. I showed my wife the ad. She agreed to embark on an experience that would prove to be life-changing.
Even though I had traveled to some English-speaking countries before, this would be the first time I would be teaching in one of them. The idea sounded scary at first, but soon it turned so real that all fears disappeared.
For a teacher who teaches language arts in his home country, teaching in an English-speaking country is a dream come true. I thought teaching abroad would not only give me the chance to polish my English, but also, eventually, it would allow me to learn a lot about other lifestyles, traditions, ways of thinking and human cultures, to name just a few.
Teaching in the USA taught me that the whole world is there, within reach for anybody who dares. And VIF made it possible for me.
These three years have been filled with thousands of moments that shaped me and made a difference in my life. I have had the opportunity to travel around the USA, participate in international celebrations, learn about new cultures, share my Argentine culture with others, meet countless colleagues from the U.S. and overseas, and get to know about the U.S. education system from the inside. What is better than being immersed in a society completely different from yours?
I doubt if I could have gone through all this if it had not been for VIF. VIF not only brought me here but also made my stay a very pleasant one indeed. Now, I am not saying that everything was easy and they did everything for me, but VIF was always there to support me at any moment. The VIF I once saw on paper now was right in front of me, helping me make my dream come true.
Now that my time to go home is close, I look back over these past three years and experience a feeling of fulfillment. I now see that I have been refreshed with new experiences that I can share with those who might never have the unique gift of living and working in the USA that VIF put in my life.