AUXILIAR CONVERSACIÓN 20-21: JAKE LAVERTY

Hi I’m Jake, I’ve been here as an auxiliar de conversación here in IES Universidad Laboral this year. This year has been the first time I’ve ever lived outside of the UK and to say I was nervous before it started is an understatement. However, from the first minute I’ve been here everyone has been so welcoming and my coordinator Pilar has been really helpful throughout my time in Malaga.

This year I have been working with students from 1 eso through to 4 eso and I’ve really enjoyed being able to teach a variety of different subjects working alongside a lot of great teachers. All the students I worked with were great fun and they have all been very eager to learn English. I’ve had a great time working with the students and have been able to share some Northern Irish culture with them. The students have also been very welcoming to me and they always stop to say hello or have a chat when they see me around.

It has been a tough year this year with the COVID-19 pandemic and in a year where it has been harder than ever to socialise I’ve been really thankful for a lot of the people in the school who have been great friends during my time here. The pandemic has impacted a lot of my year in Spain and with the rules being so strict for so long I couldn’t really experience everything I wanted to, but despite that my time in Malaga and at the Universidad Laboral has been so fun and it’s a time I’ll look back on very fondly.

Thank you to everyone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting throughout my time here, this year has been so great for me and I’m very lucky that I had the chance to spend it here.