TEODORA PRERADOVIC

Hi! My name is Tea and I’ve been working as an auxiliar de conversación in Málaga’s Universidad Laboral Núm. 1 since the fall of 2023. I’m from Chicago in the United States and this is my second year as an auxiliar. Last year, I was placed in northern Spain in the region of Cantabria, and lived in its capital, Santander. When I was there, I heard a lot about how varied the culture is across Spain. Wanting to expand on the generalizations I would tend to hear, I renewed in the region on the complete opposite side of the country that has a distinct history and climate, Andalucía. 

Málaga was attractive to me because of its medium size and the mountain-sea combination that I fell in love with back when I lived in Santander. Also, 300 days out of the year are sunny so how could I resist? After doing some research on schools, I found the previous assistant Amrita’s blogpost on her positive experience at Universidad Laboral, and the fact that it was a large, nature-filled campus sounded amazing to me. I quickly and easily chose the school in my application portal.

Not only did it sound amazing, but that’s how the experience has been. Besides the campus of Universidad Laboral being an absolute high-school dream — full of diverse colorful flowers, trees, places to sit and hang out, vivid green patches of grass, a café — this high school has given me nothing but great memories and relationships!

There was never a time where I didn’t feel welcomed by the students and teachers. From the moment I walked in, I was greeted with positive, warm energy that has maintained itself throughout the year. The teachers I’ve worked with are really kind, personable, and understanding. I’ve gotten to know many that I didn’t even have a chance to work with, but have had mini conversations with around campus. Not only did I work with English teachers, but with history, math, art, music, and technology teachers, too. I enjoyed the variety of subjects and ways in which I was able to assist the students in class, even if it simply came down to chatting with them and getting them comfortable speaking English!

The students I worked with were great — I loved getting to know them through class activities and out-of-class conversations. After the first half of the year, all my classes changed, and I was sad to stop working with some of my previous students because we had finally gotten comfortable with each other. One of my favorite classes even threw me a surprise party the day of my last class with them, bearing gifts and a big chocolate cake to share. It was one of the sweetest experiences in my two years as an auxiliar. The students’ sociability made it easy to relate and laugh with them. They made it easy to support them and root them on in their English journey.

If Andalucía hadn’t changed its rules, now prohibiting current auxiliars from renewing in the region the following year, I would’ve renewed my application to work at Universidad Laboral. I think it’s important for students to have a friendly familiar face (that doesn’t grade them) in what can be a disheartening, difficult, and frustrating journey toward English fluency. Regardless, I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to support the students at Universidad Laboral this school year — the experience has been invaluable!

Sumarizing the First and Second Term

Convivence Team

Halloween

Mental Health month

Day against Gender Violence

 

Invisible friends

Race for Peace

 

 Andalusian Day

 Women's Day

50th Anniversary

SPEAKING TASK

 

Having a great time with English students in order to improve our speaking-listening skills.

Even teachers took part in this marvellous open-air activity!

AMRITA REKHI

 

Hola! I’m Amrita. I have been working as a Language & Cultural Assistant at IES Num 1, Universidad Laboral, Malaga since Oct 2023. I’m from India- the land of delicious food, deep history & rich culture and of course Bollywood.

 

I have travelled almost all over India, but this is my first time abroad. I have been living on my own for almost 10 years now, but living in another country all by myself was something I always wanted to experience but it gave me the jitters. So finally in 2022 I took that leap of faith, applied for this program in Spain and I can say it in a heartbeat that it was the best decision.

 

Moving to Spain was a very spontaneous personal decision. I had no clue what to expect, since I don’t speak Spanish, and I didn’t know a soul here. The only thing I wanted was to be in an environment which brings out the best in me and I can vouch for it that I got that and much more.

 

The teachers and the students have been so warm and affectionate. I do have some previous experience working as an ESL trainer, but since I wasn’t fluent in Spanish, I had to take a whole new approach. The students have been curious, enthusiastic and loving. The support of the teachers allowed everything to work out smoothly. The campus is breathtaking, and the coffee at the cafeteria is my absolute favorite. Soaking up the sun, drinking the best coffee and chatting with the teachers slowly started becoming that part of my day I looked forward to. I’m glad to say that my workplace has been a very positive environment for me. 

 

This has been an enriching cross cultural exchange, and immersing myself in the environment has definitely helped me to pick up the language. Besides the global exposure, it also gave me a chance to meet diverse groups of people, build some genuine & meaningful connections, travel across Europe and discover a whole new side of myself. It’s an experience I will cherish forever.