Middlebury Institute graduates discuss where they are working today, how the Institute helped them get there, and what advice they’d give to current and future MIIS students.
My name is Don Hansen and I graduated with an MA in TESOL from the Middlebury Institute in 2016. My language of study was Spanish. After graduation, I served as a global teaching lecturer at Tokyo International University (TIU) in Kawagoe, Japan, and am now a TESOL professor at Brigham Young University - Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho.
In the spring of 2016, while I was still a student at MIIS, I attended the TESOL Convention in Baltimore, Md. At the convention, I interviewed with TIU and they asked me to reapply when I graduated.
A couple of stellar Institute graduates were working at TIU and had made a name for themselves—the reputation they had established for MIIS alumni really helped when I reapplied. TIU even flew their English plaza director out to Monterey to meet with my TESOL cohort. I also received crucial insights and pointers from a friend who worked at Google, and my uncle who worked for Procter & Gamble.
I graduated in December 2016 and began working at TIU in Japan in March 2017.
My main advice for current students is to focus on your relationships with your professors more than on your grades. Keep asking for feedback on your CV/resume and elevator pitch/interview introduction. Know your market and fashion your experience and strengths toward the jobs that you’ve targeted. Don’t just show them that you’re a good hire, show them that you’re the right hire who can add value to their institution.
| by Jessie Raymond
Representing the Institute’s teacher training consulting arm, Martel traveled to the Oklahoma tribal college this summer to support its Muscogee language curriculum.
| by Mary Njeri Njuguna MATESOL '20
“Tap deeply into the long-standing MIIS alumni network, as well as professors and advisors,” advises Mary Njeri Njuguna MATESOL ’20 as she reflects on how she got her role as an English and social studies teacher at an international school in Egypt.
| by Sayre Weir MAIEM ’20
“Time flies, so take advantage of your time in the program to build relationships with peers and faculty.” Sayre Weir MAIEM ’20 describes what it takes to land an assistant director role in international student life.
