Shauna Paulson, the recipient of the 2019 Kristin Carosella Memorial Fellowship, is now teaching at Bewegung, a kindergarten and after-school program for Elementary students in Uijeongbu, about an hour north of Seoul, South Korea. She is responsible for teaching several age groups, including two classes of six-year-old students. All of the classes she teaches total around 85 students. Shauna teaches everything from grammar to cooking and science in English with the help of Korean teachers. She finds her students to be the most challenging and amazing people in the world; although they exhaust her, they energize her at the same time.
Shauna believes the opportunity to teach her students and earn their affection is a privilege she has to work to keep. She would not have been able to settle in so quickly without the help of the Carosella family and the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Being in South Korea on fellowship meant she never had to worry about where the money to get started in a brand new place would come from, which gave her the start to launch a successful beginning to her career. The fellowship has allowed her the freedom and ability to do other things than worry, such as learn the songs and dances for one of her classes and explore Uijeongbu.
Shauna will have her own homeroom class in the coming school year and is looking forward to increased responsibility as the school grows. As she grows as a teacher and a professional, she continues to be grateful to ALC and the Carosella family for helping her prepare for this experience.
