Where Are They Now? by Rai Farrelly

Jasmine M.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-02-19 03:05:44 UTC

Jasmine is living in Japan where she has a teaching position through the well known Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). She is enjoying working closely with a cooperating teacher and says that what she learned in our TESOL program, especially lesson and activity design, has proven very useful for her work!

Devin L.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-02-19 03:06:29 UTC

After graduating in 2021, Devin accepted a position teaching English in Incheon, Korea. In 2024, she returned home to Colorado and is now the ELL/Literacy Program Lead at the Longmont Public Library. We're exploring collaborations between her program and CU's TESOL program! Congratulations, Devin!

Richy H.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-02-19 03:07:29 UTC

Richy traveled to Japan to teach English through the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. After a year abroad, he returned to CU Boulder and earned his MA in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, and now he's leveling up yet again in pursuit of his PhD in Speech Pathology at CU Boulder!

Karen B.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-02-23 19:58:49 UTC

After completing her graduate TESOL certificate in May 2020, Karen began working at in the Language Center at Al Akhawayn University (AUI) in Ifrane, Morocco.

During Covid, Karen had to balance teaching in person and online. She was grateful for the LGTC elective on teaching with technology offered through Continuing Education. She said she draws on what she learned in our Teaching L2 Oral Skills class.

Karen says, "The training and experience I received was stellar, and I felt well prepared starting this new experience."

After teaching abroad in Morocco, she returned to Boulder and worked as an instructor at the International English Center at CU Boulder. In 2024, Karen was accepted into the Peace Corps as is currently teaching English in Nepal!

Anthony C.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-07 22:08:36 UTC

Anthony is interviewing for a position teaching English online through Whales English. His students will be in Beijing, China.

Jack M.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-07 22:10:21 UTC

Jack has applied to be an English language teaching assistant through the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program in Spain.

Mariela T.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-07 22:12:06 UTC

Mariela is interviewing for a position with the English Program in Korea (EPIK).

Betsy C.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-07 22:16:25 UTC

Betsy was accepted to the PhD program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona! Congratulations, Betsy!!

Ella, Keelin, Ariel, & Ailish

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-07 22:19:43 UTC

They were all accepted to the Speech Language Pathology Certificate Program (SLPA) at CU Boulder! Their work in TESOL and SLP will be mutually beneficial. So many learners will benefit from their experience and expertise!

Jenna L.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-07 22:22:03 UTC

Jenna was hired to teach English to young learners in a Montessori kindergarten in China through CIEE starting Fall 2021.

Polly G.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-03-11 05:41:38 UTC

Polly was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, TESOL, MSEds program. This is such a wonderful accomplishment given the pandemic and how limited spots are in graduate programs nationally. Congratulations, Polly!

CJ M.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-05-11 17:49:23 UTC

CJ applied to the North American Language Assistant Program in Spain in Spring 2021. He hopes to work with young learners of English. Good luck!

Yuka V.

BoulderTESOL — 2021-05-11 17:52:00 UTC

Congratulations, Yuka! Yuka was notified in May 2021 that she has been accepted to the JET Program in Japan. She'll be traveling for a placement in Tokyo in Fall 2021. We can't wait to get some postcards!

Ryan J.

BoulderTESOL — 2022-05-04 17:33:21 UTC

Ryan will start working for Settlement Services in Banff, Alberta, Canada for their English Language and Physical Activity Program beginning Summer 2022. The program is designed for young learners in immigrant and refugee families, to ensure they don't incur gaps in their education over the summer.

Ryan will be involved in both in-classroom English lessons and physical literacy activities, where he'll introduce them to games they may have in school that they may not have had in their home countries. They also go hiking once a week to show them accessible activities they can do in Canmore and Banff with their friends and families. Check out the flyer for the program here.

Cameron P.

rai_farrelly — 2024-04-08 17:01:14 UTC

Cameron moved to Sapporo, Japan in early April 2024 to begin work teaching English as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) with Interac in Hokkaido.

Jasmine L.

rai_farrelly — 2024-04-08 17:03:46 UTC

Jasmine moved to Hokkaido in 2023 to teach English through the Japan Exchange Teacher (JET) Program. She teaches in a high school. After one year, she renewed her contract for another year and will be in Japan through 2025.

Sami M.

rai_farrelly — 2024-04-08 17:06:44 UTC

After CU Boulder, Sami earned a Master's degree through the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She is now the English Education Aid for the African Community Center, a refugee resettlement organization in Denver, CO. We currently partner with Sami and the ACC to offer online classes to adult refugee background learners around the state of Colorado.

Ailish M.

rai_farrelly — 2024-04-08 17:08:54 UTC

After graduating with a degree in SLHS and a TESOL Certificate, Ailish worked as a Speech Pathologist in a local school for a year, then moved to Thailand through Travel Bud. She taught English there for over a year. Now she is working at a school in China!

Avery A.

rai_farrelly — 2024-04-08 17:11:40 UTC

Avery moved to Japan and taught with the Japan Exchange Teacher (JET) Program for two years on the island of Kyushu. In Spring 2024, she applied to the Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies Master’s Program at Waseda University in Japan.

Sierra, C.

BoulderTESOL — 2024-04-16 20:36:50 UTC

Sierra was placed in the public school system as an English language teacher in South Korea through the English Program in Korea (EPIK). She has a one year contract from August 2024-August 2025! More about EPIK here: http://www.epik.go.kr/index.do

Sophie P.

BoulderTESOL — 2024-04-16 20:38:38 UTC

Sophie will be working at a language program in Madrid, Spain on a one-year contract beginning August 2024. She applied and was placed through CIEE.

Learn more here: https://www.ciee.org/go-abroad/work/teach-english-abroad/programs/teach-spain

Valerie L.

BoulderTESOL — 2024-10-10 23:45:56 UTC

Valerie was accepted into the EPIK program to teach in Korea! We look forward to hearing where she gets placed and how that experience unfolds!

Karime

BoulderTESOL — 2024-11-24 21:09:20 UTC

Karime was accepted as an English teacher through the EPIK program and now lives in South Korea. Check out this blog she wrote about her experience with EPIK's orientation process.

Sonja

BoulderTESOL — 2025-03-25 17:21:52 UTC

Sonja moved to Korea and got a job teaching littles in a nursery school in Gwangju, the 6th largest city in the country. She's excited to teach children as most of her experiences here were with adult learners. She's also planning to explore the vast nearby hiking trails!

Karis L., Katrina S., & Camryn A.

BoulderTESOL — 2025-11-10 16:11:30 UTC

Three of our 2024 CU Boulder TESOL Minor graduates who had a major in Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences were accepted into the Masters Program in Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences at CU Boulder! The synergy between learning to prepare lessons that meet the language needs and goals of multilingual learners through TESOL and preparing activities to address speech and hearing disorders with speech pathology clients sets folks up well for their graduate studies and future careers in both field!

Siena D.

BoulderTESOL — 2025-11-20 18:43:43 UTC

Siena was accepted into an English language teaching program in Thailand through CIEE! She moved there in May 2025 to meet her learners and embark on this exciting journey using her TESOL Certificate and expertise. Congratulations, Siena!

Molly O.

BoulderTESOL — 2026-04-05 17:28:40 UTC

During the TESOL Program, Molly spent a few weeks teaching at Centro Cultural Peruano Noreteamericano, one of our core TESOL Program partners located in Arequipa, Peru. After graduating with her degree in Linguistics and TESOL, Molly spent a semester studying Russian language at CU. She was also accepted to the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she'll pursue her MA beginning Fall 2026. Congratulations, Molly!

Nami I.

BoulderTESOL — 2026-04-05 17:35:44 UTC

Nami came to CU Boulder as an international student from Japan. She began with English language study at the International English Center. She also took Introduction to Linguistics for undergraduate credit that transferred back to her BA program in Japan. Next, Nami joined the MA Linguistics Program at CU Boulder where she also earned the Graduate Certificate in TESOL. During that time, she conducted a comparative study for her MA thesis, exploring the beliefs and experiences of Japanese students studying English in Japan and the US. Nami was accepted to a PhD program in Japanese Language and Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she hopes to explore Japanese language pedagogy for a future career as a Japanese language teacher! Congratulations, Nami! What an amazing path you're on.

Emily R.

BoulderTESOL — 2026-04-05 17:38:03 UTC

After graduating from CU Boulder with a degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, and a Minor in TESOL, Emily will spend a year teaching in Madrid! She was accepted through the CIEE Teach English in Spain program. Congratulations, Emily! We can't wait to hear how this experience goes for you.