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Teaching Abroad And An Extra $40,000!!!
Submitted by: Char L.
Albuquerque, NM, USAI am a 38 year old female from the USA southwest and a teacher. I love learning about new cultures and helping students achieve their goals. I currently live in Yokohama, Japan.
In my early 30’s I returned to school to be a teacher. The career switch resulted in a $24,000 student loan debt plus $8500 of credit card debt. I worked as a substitute teacher and went to college in the evenings. My yearly pay was less than $12,000 a year. I was swimming in debt and I had to move in with my parents. Things looked bleak but I really wanted to become a teacher and give back to the community and to the world. I worked long term at a title one school. I had 40 plus students in every class, the heater did not work in the winter, there were no school supplies, and I got zero help on lesson planning. Many of my students were in gangs, reading at a 4th grade level even though they were in 10th grade and I got cursed out daily with no help from the administrator. I would go home at night and cry. I was so depressed because of my bleak income, my debt and becuase my teaching job was overwhelming.
One day after a yoga class a friend gave me a copy of The Secret. I read it and starting implementing some of the techniques. I printed out a copy of The Secret Check and wrote it out for $40,000. This amount would help me pay my student loan and my credit card in full and also provide a little extra in savings. I also got $200 in cash and kept counting it until I reach $40,000. I did this once a day for several months and started to feel more abundant!
Sadly during that time, there was a shooting threat at the school I taught at. That was my breaking point and I decided to quit. I applied for teaching jobs overseas and got one in Japan! The pay was much better and they were going to provide me with an apartment! I had several months before I would start and had no job. I continued counting the $40,000 and would say thank you after every grand that I counted.
Then, 2 weeks before I was going to move to Japan, several magical events occurred. My grandma said she was proud of me and she gave me a check for $12,000!!! I was blown away! Then $17,000 of my student loan was forgiven because I had taught in a high needs area for several years! Then out of nowhere, my old employer from 10 years ago, who owed me 10 grand, finally paid me the money!
I ended up moving to Japan debt free, and with a little bit of savings!!! I now teach at an eikaiwa school. My max class size is 8 students and the students are so sweet and respectful! I love helping them learn and reach their goals. It is so rewarding! Also I am loving my downtime. I get to explore this fantastic country on my days off!
Thank you so much to The Secret team for your fantastic book, The Secret! Thank you, thank you, thank you!