Andrew is a current LTS student who plans to graduate this Summer 2021.

Hi Andrew! Tell us a little about yourself – what was your background before joining LTS?

Hello! Thanks so much for having me on the blog! Way before LTS I was an undergraduate at Western Oregon University where I first gained my passion for languages. After I graduated in 2014 I decided to volunteer as an English teacher in China after hearing about the program from one of my sisters’ friends. This spontaneous decision ended up shaping my entire life as I ended up staying in China for a little longer than my original four month plan (about five years longer). After spending some time feverishly learning Chinese on my own I decided I wanted to formally study Mandarin at the university that was close to my English school. I worked to pass the necessary HSK 5 test and got in to study during my third and fourth years in China. It was during this time that I met my wife who would later accompany on this adventure back to America. My time in China showed me I was passionate about learning and teaching languages as well as using those languages to meet new and wonderful people.

 What motivated you to start an MA program as your next career step?

After I returned to the United States I knew that I wanted to continue teaching but I wasn’t sure what my next step would be. While my wife was completing her masters in finance at the U of O, I got a job that was close to campus working at a Chinese restaurant. During this time I got to use Chinese everyday and interact with people from all different departments of the university. One day a faculty member from the linguistics department recommended the LTS program to me (I wish I could remember who….). After looking over the program and meeting with Keli Yerian I knew that this was the program I wanted to apply for. It was the perfect combination of my passion for languages and teaching that would allow me to further my understanding and set me on my desired career path for the future.

What do you most want to take advantage of during graduate school?

(aside from all those sweet, sweet student discounts….) Definitely learning and working together with people who are interested and passionate about the same things as I am. I have really enjoyed the wealth of knowledge and experience that I have been able to glean from my professors and fellow students. I can’t wait to see what more I get to learn in the future and I sincerely hope we can all meet up together once the pandemic allows for it.

Like the other brave souls of your cohort, you joined the program in the middle of the pandemic. What have been the advantages and disadvantages of such a strange way to start graduate school?

I like to think of the glass (of hand sanitizer) as half full in this situation. Even though I would have loved to have had in person classes for the entirety of the school year I think that online classes have worked out better than I could have imagined, mostly due to the scaffolding provided by our professors. I had a grand total of 1 online class during my undergraduate program and it is safe to say that it left a funky taste in my mouth, so when I heard that we had 1 term of online classes to start the year I figured “if I just make it through this I will be ok for the rest of the year.” Much to my surprise I really enjoyed the first term of online classes and found everything to be well organized and straight forward. I also found that I enjoyed the zoom format of classes and even though it was different from in person learning I could focus really well during class. A combination of staying organized, eating healthy and getting physical exercise has helped me a lot to overcome the difficulties of the pandemic along with helping to prepare me for my potential future of teaching online as a career.

What do you most look forward to doing when the pandemic is over? (cross our fingers)

Hmm…. I’ve been pretty lucky during the pandemic so I don’t have too much to complain about. I think the one thing I look forward to most is traveling again. I really look forward to going back to China with my wife and seeing my family and friends over there after over two years. I really hope that vaccines will roll out quickly enough that by the end of our program we can all go out for a celebratory drink this summer as LTS graduates. Can’t wait to properly meet everyone in person. (Shout out to Robert for giving us the hyflex classes that have at least allowed me to take a class on campus. I will make it back to Eugene for the last one for sure!)