As part of Global Gators Month, the Career Connections Center hosted a Gator Career Chat featuring UF alumni who taught English in Brazil, Qatar, Italy, and South Korea. Panelists shared how teaching abroad becomes a powerful form of experiential learning that strengthens intercultural communication, builds confidence, and opens meaningful career pathways that extend far beyond the classroom.
Panelists:
• Holly McKinley Lester: Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Brazil, now working in international nonprofit project management
• Tremaine Curtis: English teacher and Inclusive Learning Coordinator in Qatar
• Camila Rivera: English teacher in Italian summer language camps
• Casey Juby: Former EPIC English teacher in South Korea, now working in IT and academic support at UNC School of Medicine
Presenter Insights
Panelists emphasized that teaching abroad is ultimately about developing a global mindset. They described how quickly they had to adapt, communicate across cultures, and lead in unfamiliar environments. These experiences helped them strengthen transferable skills such as public speaking, classroom and program management, collaboration, and creative problem solving.
They also encouraged students to be thoughtful when selecting programs. Researching contracts, responsibilities, and benefits can help ensure that opportunities match personal goals, financial needs, and long term career interests.
Key Takeaways for Students
• Teaching abroad strengthens highly transferable skills such as intercultural communication, adaptability, leadership, public speaking, and creative problem solving.
• Students from any major can pursue this path. Alumni represented a wide range of academic backgrounds and all found meaningful ways to connect their teaching experience to future career opportunities.
• Programs vary significantly. Explore options such as Fulbright, EPIC in Korea, or short term camp programs. Compare benefits, housing, start up costs, and support structures.
• Research programs carefully and review contracts closely to understand expectations and available resources.
• Teaching abroad can launch new career directions. Alumni used their experiences to transition into nonprofit leadership, project management, higher education, global education, and IT.
Cross Cultural Learning and Adaptation
A significant theme across the discussion was the importance of adapting to new cultural norms and communication styles. Panelists described how teaching abroad required patience, flexibility, and a willingness to learn from the communities where they lived and worked. Holly shared how university culture in Brazil was more informal than she expected, which encouraged her to rethink her approach to building relationships with students. Casey explained how expectations for teaching varied between elementary and middle school placements in Korea and how adjusting her style strengthened her confidence. Tremaine emphasized that understanding professional and social norms in Qatar helped her connect more effectively with colleagues and families. Camila reflected on the experience of living with host families in Italy and how cultural immersion deepened her understanding of community values. These experiences helped panelists build intercultural awareness, resilience, and communication skills that they now use in diverse professional roles.
Why This Matters
Employers increasingly value graduates who can communicate across cultures, navigate unfamiliar environments, and adapt to new challenges. Teaching abroad provides hands on opportunities to build these skills while strengthening self awareness and global understanding. Whether students plan careers in education, international relations, business, or community based work, the experience helps them develop a compelling narrative for future interviews, graduate school applications, and professional roles.
Teaching abroad is not only a travel experience. It is an opportunity to learn, lead, and grow in ways that shape personal and professional trajectories long after the program ends.
Explore Global & Cross-Cultural Experiences
Whether you’re interested in studying abroad, teaching internationally, or building intercultural skills right here on campus, these UF resources can help you get started:
- Explore programs and opportunities through the Experiential Learning Dashboard by filtering for Global & Sociocultural Learning.
- Earn a global learning medallion and build an ePortfolio through the International Scholars Program.
- Learn about study abroad advising, global scholarships, and international events at the UF International Center.
- Access global engagement courses, international internships, and experiential learning support through Beyond120.
- Connect with globally minded UF alumni and explore career paths through Gator Network.
