Growing up, senior Taylor Hutchings envisioned herself being many things, including a clothing designer, a photographer, and a singer. But recently, things changed and now Hutchings wants to teach the English language in South Korea.

For Hutchings, listening to Kpop opened a pathway into the Korean culture. She one day saw a Youtube video about a girl who used to teach in Korea. At that moment, Hutchings realized she wanted the opportunity to teach in South Korea as well. “This girl made the job seem so cool and eye opening. It just clicked,” she said.

If Hutchings gets the opportunity to teach English in South Korea, she is hoping to get to teach in the two biggest cities, Seoul or Busan, since they are very populated and well-known. The school she would teach at would already be picked out for her and her first years’ rent would be paid for through a sponsoring program. She would be going very far away, so she would only be able to take things that were absolutely necessary. “It’s very difficult to move your entire life across the world, but it just seems so worth it,” she said.

Hutchings said she would be there at least a full year, and if she really enjoyed it she would stay for longer. “The busy lifestyle and difference in culture interests me so much. I’d want to be able to have free reign after my year of teaching is up,” she said. She loves her family and friends and would visit them if she was missing home and on holidays.

Hutchings has already planned the first things she would do when she gets there. She would get her stuff to her house, she would explore as much as possible, learn to read the Korean signs, and get a subway pass. She has to use a subway pass because her license would not be valid there, and she can not read the Korean signs very well. “Although I hope to be at least semi-proficient at Korean before I go, Korean isn’t the easiest for me to read right now. Plus, if I wanted to drive a car there, I would have to go through all of the training I already did but this time for the left side of the road!” she said.

Hutchings is not fluent in Korean; but she is working toward it and teaches herself at home everyday. Fortunately, she does not need to know Korean for the school system. She is encouraged to speak English, because that is what she is teaching her students, and it gives them more practice with hearing English. “It’s like our spanish immersion programs here. I’ve learned from previous teachers that lived and taught there that they didn’t have to know Korean and were often discouraged to speak Korean around the students,” she said.

Hutching really enjoys educating students. “A language is one of the biggest gifts you can give someone,” she said.

She wants to break the stereotype of being closed minded about a different side of the world. Having an open mind lead her to this career path. She also believes more people should go for scholarships or become an exchange student somewhere out of your country. “Even if you are discouraged about getting out of the country or getting some new scenery, you really should just go for it. The only thing you’ll regret is not doing it sooner,” she said.