February 25th, 2020: “As you may have seen, last night the US Center for Disease Control raised its travel advisory for South Korea to “Warning Level 3” due to the increase in the country of confirmed covid-19 cases. As a result, CIEE has made the decision to cancel the Arts and Sciences program in Seoul South Korea for spring 2020”
When I received this email I wasn’t in shock or despair since I had been expecting it for a few days but nevertheless, a certain dread crept onto me as I read it. At this point, this new and unexpected disease had delayed my study abroad program for the semester by 3 weeks already and there was talk that this new epidemic would soon become a pandemic spanning the entire globe. Yet it still felt so incredibly unfair to me that out of all the places in the world, Korea had to be the second hotspot for this disease. I thought to myself “this couldn’t actually be a problem that would take more than a month to solve right?” And boy, was I wrong.
I went into action by setting up a plan b, which was enrolling in the summer abroad program. I was told that it would be optimistic to assume things would be much better by then. I then moved onto plan c, getting an internship abroad in Sydney, Australia. My abroad advisor was diligent in getting me accepted into the program and yet just a week later, that too was canceled. So, I dejectedly moved onto plan d, taking summer classes to make up for taking a semester off.
Looking back at myself from over a year ago I realized that my sadness at my study abroad getting canceled was nothing in comparison to the stress, fear, and uncertainty that so many people have had to face throughout this pandemic. Throughout this insane year, I also had a lot of time to think about what I truly wanted. As soon as my program was canceled, a lot of people told me, “you can always take a trip to Korea!” But that wasn’t what I wanted, I wanted to live in Korea, not as a tourist but as a resident who can give back to the community I am living in.
That’s where EPIK came in. For those who don’t know, EPIK (English Program in Korea) is a sort of middleman that places native English speakers in Korean public schools to teach the students in a cross-cultural way. I already had heard of EPIK before I was supposed to study abroad because I always thought it would be a nice option for me after college. Plus, my sister had done Teach for America and through her, I saw that teaching could be a fulfilling job for me also. Once study abroad was canceled, it felt like EPIK was truly calling to me. So, being the planner I am, I began on my bulletproof plan on how to get accepted to EPIK.
I started my senior year of college in August 2020. While juggling a full course load and internship, I got my TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certificate, wrote my essays, and made a mock lesson plan. These are the three main components of the EPIK application along with 2 letters of recommendation which I had already received. By January 2021, I had revised my lesson plan and essays thoroughly with my sister and filled out my application to be ready to go as soon as the application portal opened. Finally, on January 31st, I submitted my application 40 minutes after the portal opened up.
I waited for around a month when I received the first good news, my application passed the first stage and they wanted to interview me! I had my interview at 8 PM on March 15th, which I saw as an ominous sign because of Julius Caesar. And yet, after reeling over what I should’ve said differently in my 25-minute interview for a week, I got the even better news that I had passed my interview.
From there, it was a mad dash to get all my documents (there’s a long and confusing list if you care to google it) to Korea as soon as possible. If you haven’t already noticed, applying to EPIK is a rollercoaster. During the waiting months of each stage, you feel like you’re reaching the next part painfully slow. But when the next stage hits, it’s absolutely nail-biting and sleepless nights to make sure you’re doing it all fast and correctly. I shakily handed off my documents (which I checked over 7 times to make sure everything was there and in the correct order) to the FedEx employee and received a confirmation email 4 days later that my documents were all correct and received at the EPIK office in Korea on March 29, 2021.
From here came the longest wait of all, which I will save for part 2!
Carly in Korea 