Kaleb Stubbs is a current LTS student who will be graduating this Summer.

– blog post by Emma Snyder, LTS student

Hi Kaleb! Tell us a bit about yourself and your background

I was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. My father is also from Eugene while my mother is from Panama. I grew up playing baseball, basketball, and football all the way through my high school years. I ended up becoming the ASB President (all student body) of my high school at Sheldon where I gave many speeches, including one at graduation and organized the assemblies for the school. I attended Lane Community College where I received my Associate’s of Arts degree and transferred to the UO where I completed my undergrad in Linguistics and the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) certificate.

What brought you to language teaching? To the UO?

In high school, I always aspired to become a writer, but was unsure on how to go about it at the time. During my years at Lane, I switched my degree many times from business to music, then to EMT until I eventually found my passion in language learning. I discovered this through travelling when I was working at the airport and had the opportunity to use the free flight benefits to travel to places such as Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Canada, Guatemala, Panama, and Japan. It wasn’t until I visited Japan that I found out what direction I wanted to go as far as higher education. I noticed that language is the key to the world and there were many job opportunities as an English teacher in Japan. When I returned to America, I immediately started studying Japanese and Linguistics at the U of O and now I am in the LTS Masters program. I also found that the passion doesn’t just stop with teaching. When we know a language and how language works, there are many opportunities that can be had in many different areas.

What have some of your past experiences been with language teaching? Do you have any specifically fond memories?

Since my time at U of O, I have had many great teaching opportunities such as working with international students from all over the world while tutoring at AEI, interning with Li-Hsien Yang at CASLS, and with the OIIP program. Classes through the LTS program offer opportunities to teach as well, such as Talking with Ducks, and the times have been unforgettable. I have met so many interesting people and was able to expand my cultural and linguistic knowledge even further by making friends and using the Japanese language and other languages every day. I have gone on many fun adventures with my international friends such as going to the coast, hiking Spencer’s Butte, snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, and many other things. These memories I will always cherish and remember and at a time when I knew no one from Japan, I now have many friends in different places of the country so I will not be lonely and there are many opportunities to be discovered.

What has been the highlight of your time in the program so far?

Aside from learning the logistics of how language teaching works, the LTS program has offered so many insights that were new to me such as curriculum designing, program evaluations, creating lesson plans, learning about different modes and tactics of language teaching especially in a world where things are more digital and online, and how to optimize the experience for the students in classroom. I would have to say the highlight of the LTS program is the amount of awesome people I get to meet and work with while in the program. It’s awesome to part of a team of likeminded individuals who are bright and driven in their field. The professors in the program are all great as well and each one offers a viewpoint that is extremely beneficial in many ways.

How do you hope to work in the language teaching field in the future?

After I graduate, I plan to utilize the knowledge I have gained throughout my years at UO and the LTS program by travelling and teaching English. My main goal is to live and work in Japan while increasing my knowledge of the Japanese language, but I am always open to travelling to new places as well and learning about the languages and cultures as much as I can. I hope to work in education with students of all age ranges who are interested in learning English and to help them on their linguistic journey. Another goal is to work for an international company where I can travel and use my language ability to bridge linguistic and cultural gaps and make connections around the world.

What is something outside of language teaching that you are passionate about? A fun fact about yourself that others may not know?

Outside of language teaching, I have a passion for music, photography, manga, video games, and the outdoors. I play the drums, a bit of piano, and the bass guitar on my free time and also make music on my computer. Recently, I have had the opportunity to be the drummer of a band which has always been a dream of mine. I often take photos of nature when I’m on a hike or bike ride and find it extremely grounding. I love to skateboard, mountain bike, and surf with my older brother as well who was the one who got me into outdoor sports. I also recently have reconnected with my love for writing and have began writing brief short stories and hope to eventually transfer those into short films.