With public relations and advertising, senior Manon Paul found a new path that was right for her goals and interests.Growing up in Juneau, Alaska, senior Manon Paul was an entrepreneur as a child. “At the age of eight, I sold hats and pillows I had sewn at Juneau’s public market. I created a restaurant serving full-course meals to friends and families, and organized fashion shows for my Girl Scout Troop. I always had a lemonade stand where a percentage of my profits went to a local non-profit organization.”
Naturally, Manon decided to pursue entrepreneurship when she enrolled as a freshman at DePaul. After a few years on that path, she realized there was a missing piece with her educational pursuit. “I had gained business skills, however, I realized with all my education, I was not tapping into my creative side of my brain. Therefore, I chose to combine my business and art interests and gain knowledge and experience in public relations and advertising.” With
public relations and advertising, Manon found a new path that was right for her goals and interests.
Fast forward to today. During COVID-19’s challenging times and DePaul’s pivot to remote learning, Manon was able to again explore a new path, one that began as a young person herself, and leads to now helping young people build their confidence. Below, Manon shares how she ended up teaching English on the Zanzibar archipelago, off of the coast of Tanzania, and why her path now includes pursuing a teaching certificate.
What was the motivation behind your desire to teach English?
I moved to Austria when I was 16 for an exchange year. I didn’t understand a word of German. I enrolled in a German course. I met so many people from around the world all wanting to learn the language of the city in which they lived, and I thought about how helpful that class was. I want to create the same feeling for someone else so they feel confident in their language abilities.
What is a TEFL certification and why is it important to obtain in relation to your teaching goals?
TEFL is a certification to teach English as a foreign language. Just because a person’s native language is English doesn’t mean that person is good at teaching the language. TEFL provides me background knowledge on how to be an effective teacher.
Tell us about your class and students.
I am currently teaching 13-15-year-olds at a public school in Zanzibar. My class of 30 students recently shared with me their dream jobs and to my surprise, the two biggest responses were a teacher and doctor! It was pretty inspiring to learn about their future goals.
What are your teaching goals?
My goal for teaching is to give the students the tools needed to teach others. Half of my students want to teach, so my hope is that the skills they learn from my lessons will be passed on to future students, friends and family members. If I have one student who says, “Oh, that English teacher really helped me,” or, “She taught me something valuable,” I will feel satisfied with the work I do.
What made you choose to teach in Zanzibar?
As a kid, my mom always talked about wanting a move to Africa, so I always made it a mission of mine. I have a friend living in Zanzibar. Since DePaul went online, this was the perfect time to visit and fulfill my adventurous spirit.
What are your hobbies/interested? What do you do in your spare time?
In my spare time, I am oftentimes drawing or painting. I love anything outdoors, especially hiking and camping. Once it is safe to travel again, I will continue exploring the world! I have traveled to 31 countries.