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Alumni Jennifer Randall Shares About Her Alaskan Amity Experience

June 25, 2020 by guest Leave a Comment

Did you know that Amity Institute has been an organization for almost 60 years? Because of our long and vibrant history, we absolutely love connecting with alumni, to hear their stories and see how their Amity experience still impacts their lives.

Today on the Amity Blog, we talk with an Amity Alum from 2016, Jennifer, who shares about her time in Alaska! Check out the story below!

1. Where and what year were you an Amity Intern? I was an Amity Intern at Rilke Schule German School of Arts and Sciences in Anchorage, Alaska from February until June of 2016. It was one of the best parts of my life, and I found a home away from home in Alaska!


2. What was the hardest adjustment you made while living in the United States? What was the most surprising thing once you arrived? It was not too surprising, but it was great to see moose walking across the street or nearby the street in Anchorage. My host family also welcomed me very warmly and I had a great start in my American experience. In Alaska, especially in Anchorage, nature and the city are perfectly combined and it is the perfect location for anybody who loves hiking, skiing and more outdoor activities. 


3. What was your favorite part of your Amity experience? What did you share about your culture? I cannot say that I have only one favorite thing that comes to my mind when I think about my Amity experience. The teachers at my school gave me a lot of advice on my teaching skills and I learned so much about myself in the classroom. Furthermore, I could now also think about teaching younger students (K-4) than the ones I will teach in my future teaching career (5-12). In Kindergarten, I made Easter bunnies with the children, for example and we sung many German songs. I also had a great host family. We shared so many cultural activities and cooked some German meals together. For my eldest host sister, I brought a CD with German pop songs that were popular at that time. 


4. What about your experience provided the most professional growth for you? I now know that I could also work with younger children from Kindergarten to 4th grade. I also had the opportunity to teach a lot myself and could, thus, try many new things in the classroom. However, I learned the most probably when I came to school on one morning and the front office told me that I should take over the second graders for the whole day as their teacher was sick. There was, of course a second teacher in there, who knew the kids better than I did, but, in the beginning, I was still a bit unsure if I was doing everything right. However, during the day, I learned what methods worked best and which didn’t with my students. This definitely helped me to gain more confidence in my teaching skills. 


5. What are you doing now? How did your time interning help lead to your current career/your growth personally and professionally? I have just finished the first part of my state exams here in Germany. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I haven’t been able to write my state exams in history yet. As soon as I have finished them, I will start my Referendariat in September at school, which is the last part of my teaching training. I think that I gained a lot more confidence in my teaching skills through the Amity experience, and I am very happy that I was able to be part of it. 

6. What is one piece of advice that you have for a new Amity Intern? Just be open for any new experience. If you are open you can have the best time of your life just as I did. Try to be friendly and helpful in school, and try to adapt as best as possible to your host family. Then, you will not have to face any difficulties during your Amity experience!

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This experience changed my life! Now, I have more dreams and some other goals. I'm so thankful for everything that I've learned. I want to continue growing as a human and as a teacher. The Amity program is one the best things that ever happened to me." - Michelle, 2018-2019 Intern

We have been working with Amity for several years. Learning about different cultures, communities, traditions, music, arts, dances and more, helps our students to see the world as a global place fostering diversity and respect. Having a second adult in the classroom helps our teachers to be able to have more individualized attention to students and work on small groups. Amity has been a wonderful organization to work with, reliable and accessible, bringing highly qualified young people to work in our school."- Maria Buceta Miller, Amity School Coordinator, John Stanford International School

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Intern, Sharon, from Colombia, shared some photos Intern, Sharon, from Colombia, shared some photos and also let us know how her internship is going. She has had nothing but wonderful experiences so far with her host family and host school and everyone has been very kind! 🇨🇴

#j1 #Bridgeusa
How is the school year going for you so far? We’ How is the school year going for you so far? We’d love to hear! 

Pictured here: Amity interns placed in Winona, Minnesota 

#j1 #Bridgeusa
Congratulations to two of our first year teachers Congratulations to two of our first year teachers from the Philippines: Mrs. Gamundoy and Mrs. Balangue on your news article and TV feature! 

We are very pleased to see how much you are enjoying your time in the U.S. and wish you both a successful school year. Click on the link in our bio to read the article. 

We enjoy reading news articles and seeing any media coverage regarding our participants and host schools, so please forward them to us as well! ☺️

Pictured here: Mrs. Balangue with her students (1st photo) and Mrs. Gamundoy with her students (2nd photo)

#j1 #Bridgeusa
Amity Intern, Gabriel, from El Salvador, spent som Amity Intern, Gabriel, from El Salvador, spent some time with his host dad and brother at the Minnesota State Fair! 🇸🇻🎡🎟️

What are some activities you’ve done so far with your host family? 

#j1 #bridgeusa
Did you know that most of our interns are placed i Did you know that most of our interns are placed in Minnesota? Every year we conduct one large orientation for interns placed in Minnesota and everyone had the opportunity to meet Amity’s Executive Director, Jim Price! Comment down below if you are in the photo! 🧐

We would like to give a huge shoutout to our host school community for your assistance with ensuring that your interns arrive at the orientation on time and for your guidance throughout the year - we can’t do any of this without you! 

#j1 #bridgeusa
Amity’s Executive Director, Jim Price, had the o Amity’s Executive Director, Jim Price, had the opportunity to meet most of our teachers in Minnesota last week during the orientation! We hope you all have a wonderful school year! 

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