Rosalinda Chavez | Student Affairs Advisor

French was my favorite subject during my school years and I always wanted to practice it in a real-world setting. My wonderful French instructor had mentioned a program where you could move to France and teach English at the same time. This was my chance to live my dream! I applied to the TAPIF program and within a few months I was getting ready to take my first-ever solo trip abroad!

I’m from Chicago and have a BA from Columbia College Chicago.

Growing up, my family and I took a lot of trips to Mexico to visit family. On these visits, I got to experience both sides of the country, the rural pueblo, and the bustling city. These trips were always filled with meeting distant relatives, eating delicious food, speaking Spanish 24/7, and consuming more candy than was acceptable back home. I always had such a great time and cried when it was time to come home.

Mexico, France, Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland.

I taught middle school through the TAPIF program in France! As someone who grew up and lived in the city, moving to Bourg-en-Bresse, a town with a population of 41,000 was a huge lifestyle change for me.

One of my co-workers at the middle school asked if I could house-sit and take care of her cats while she and her family were away at a wedding. In order to open up more and fully live my experience abroad, I had set a goal for myself to say yes to anything that came my way, so I accepted the offer! Upon arrival, I realized this wasn’t a normal house at all! The gigantic converted farmhouse was located in the middle of the French countryside and was surrounded by a lake and acres of farmland. Before, she had only mentioned that there were two cats that would need to be fed, but after poking around, I could see there was also a mini-farm to take care of including chickens and rabbits!

The next couple of days were spent waking up early to feed the chickens and collect eggs, letting the rabbits out to graze, and taking long walks along the scenic countryside. One thing I learned is to always say yes because you never know what you’ll get into when living and teaching in another country!

Indian and Turkish!

Getting to work with amazing teachers who are on the path to fulfilling their dreams of living and working abroad! I’m also super excited to be working with a team of like-minded individuals who are passionate about teaching and traveling abroad!