JET Programme Series: Mapping the Changing Landscapes - Saeeda Ali
2022/8/15
JET Programme Series: Mapping the Changing Landscapes - Saeeda Ali
I never wanted to be a teacher. People around me would comment on my love for reading and writing and then my degree in Literatures in English and Linguistics with the dreaded “Oh, so you’re going to be a teacher?” I would hug my novels closer, angrily grip my pen in hand and declare that I’d be a writer. Nothing more, nothing less.
As I loved writing more than anything, it came as a reeling shock in the middle of a journalism internship to realise that I really didn’t want to pursue it full time. Fast forward to a couple months later when the desperation to do meaningful and useful work would stretch painfully with every employment rejection. When COVID came to stay, I got stuck in that place of unemployment, short term jobs, more unemployment, and confusion about where to go and what to do. Yet thanks to that supposedly stagnant period, I was able to teach English as a Second Language. While looking around for jobs I came across a TEFL ad (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Before I knew it, I had students, would spend time eagerly researching teaching methods and doing lesson plans, and even completed a TEFL certification. Then another one. And another one. Eventually I came to shamefully face my younger self when I realised that I did, in fact, enjoy teaching.
My interest in Japan started when I befriended two Japanese girls while on an exchange programme in Canada during my degree. They would teach me about Japan and Japanese, and I would share with them English and Trinidadian culture. Our interest in cultures and languages helped us connect, and I found in them a lasting friendship. I went back to UWI determined to study Japanese formally in CLL (Centre for Language Learning). While I couldn’t become fluent as quickly as I would have liked, I earned more than I bargained for – a deep appreciation for the Japanese language, for Japanese storytelling, and an even deeper obsession with Studio Ghibli movies.
The combined experiences of teaching English and learning Japanese gave way to life-changing discoveries that brought me here. Language learning was something I loved, and something I could do well. Teaching was something I came to enjoy, something I could also do well, and something I kept wanting to excel at.
I didn’t have to think about applying for the JET Programme. Even before applications opened, I was halfway done with mine. It’s a chance to use my hard-earned skills and qualifications and build a life with my own hands. A chance to become (mostly) bilingual in a foreign language in the best way possible. To see the effect of Japanese art forms on my own creative expressions. The titles I hope to wear from the end of my time on JET will be that of ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, translator, writer, and aid worker.
I am headed to Katsuyama in Fukui prefecture. It’s a place I had never heard of before but one that has everything I asked for – mountains, hiking, rural but close enough to big cities (Kyoto and Osaka are nearby), snow (lots of skiing! winter clothes! This Caribbean girl loves the cold), local crafts (pottery, paper making, knife making!), and the opportunity to do a lot of community work.
I certainly wouldn’t have had this opportunity if it weren’t for the people around me. It’s my family, my teachers, and my friends who freely gave to me unwavering belief, love, and support. I’m grateful even to those who sneered at a supposedly useless degree. Without these people, I wouldn’t have found the determination or been persistent enough to keep dreaming and following these dreams wherever they took me.
Now I can see not one but several intertwining paths. They clear and expand more with every planned or spontaneous step I take. I’m terrified. I know that among the things I’ve prayed and wished and dreamed for will undoubtedly be anxieties and uncertainties. But the chance to achieve and build on my goals in Japan means I can move forward knowing that whatever comes, it will happen along paths that I’ve cleared and will clear again, and again.
JET Series: Mapping the Changing Landscapes (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
As I loved writing more than anything, it came as a reeling shock in the middle of a journalism internship to realise that I really didn’t want to pursue it full time. Fast forward to a couple months later when the desperation to do meaningful and useful work would stretch painfully with every employment rejection. When COVID came to stay, I got stuck in that place of unemployment, short term jobs, more unemployment, and confusion about where to go and what to do. Yet thanks to that supposedly stagnant period, I was able to teach English as a Second Language. While looking around for jobs I came across a TEFL ad (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Before I knew it, I had students, would spend time eagerly researching teaching methods and doing lesson plans, and even completed a TEFL certification. Then another one. And another one. Eventually I came to shamefully face my younger self when I realised that I did, in fact, enjoy teaching.
My interest in Japan started when I befriended two Japanese girls while on an exchange programme in Canada during my degree. They would teach me about Japan and Japanese, and I would share with them English and Trinidadian culture. Our interest in cultures and languages helped us connect, and I found in them a lasting friendship. I went back to UWI determined to study Japanese formally in CLL (Centre for Language Learning). While I couldn’t become fluent as quickly as I would have liked, I earned more than I bargained for – a deep appreciation for the Japanese language, for Japanese storytelling, and an even deeper obsession with Studio Ghibli movies.
The combined experiences of teaching English and learning Japanese gave way to life-changing discoveries that brought me here. Language learning was something I loved, and something I could do well. Teaching was something I came to enjoy, something I could also do well, and something I kept wanting to excel at.
I didn’t have to think about applying for the JET Programme. Even before applications opened, I was halfway done with mine. It’s a chance to use my hard-earned skills and qualifications and build a life with my own hands. A chance to become (mostly) bilingual in a foreign language in the best way possible. To see the effect of Japanese art forms on my own creative expressions. The titles I hope to wear from the end of my time on JET will be that of ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, translator, writer, and aid worker.
I am headed to Katsuyama in Fukui prefecture. It’s a place I had never heard of before but one that has everything I asked for – mountains, hiking, rural but close enough to big cities (Kyoto and Osaka are nearby), snow (lots of skiing! winter clothes! This Caribbean girl loves the cold), local crafts (pottery, paper making, knife making!), and the opportunity to do a lot of community work.
I certainly wouldn’t have had this opportunity if it weren’t for the people around me. It’s my family, my teachers, and my friends who freely gave to me unwavering belief, love, and support. I’m grateful even to those who sneered at a supposedly useless degree. Without these people, I wouldn’t have found the determination or been persistent enough to keep dreaming and following these dreams wherever they took me.
Now I can see not one but several intertwining paths. They clear and expand more with every planned or spontaneous step I take. I’m terrified. I know that among the things I’ve prayed and wished and dreamed for will undoubtedly be anxieties and uncertainties. But the chance to achieve and build on my goals in Japan means I can move forward knowing that whatever comes, it will happen along paths that I’ve cleared and will clear again, and again.
JET Series: Mapping the Changing Landscapes (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives