蘑菇短视频

Amanda Turi莽i, then Doll, sat in a Haywood County school desiring a change. She loved what she was doing as a student-teacher, but she knew North Carolina wasn鈥檛 where she wanted to be forever. The United States wasn鈥檛 either. She wanted to go overseas.

鈥淚 didn't know how to do it, and I was looking up jobs and just anything to be abroad,鈥� Turi莽i said. 鈥淚 wasn't able to do it because you needed experience to go abroad, so I ended up going back to my hometown (of Hudson), and I taught there for a while.鈥�

But Turi莽i didn鈥檛 stick around her neck of the woods long 鈥� far from it. She applied to teach with Peace Corps, a government agency that deploys volunteers to international communities, which brought her a life that she never expected.

Now, the 蘑菇短视频 alumna is the head of the primary school at International Learning Group School, an international school in Pristina, Kosovo.

鈥淚t's like my favorite thing because I've taught kids literally from all over the world. I think from like 40 different countries,鈥� Turi莽i said. 鈥淚 get to learn a bunch of different things in different languages and a lot of different cultures, just being in the one place that we are.鈥�

Turi莽i鈥檚 international journey began in Albania, where she taught English at a special needs school with Peace Corps for three years.

Following her time with the agency, Turi莽i decided she wanted to stay in Albania, moving to its capital, Tirana, where she worked with the country鈥檚 Ministry of Education and trained teachers to teach English.

Soon, Turi莽i found another school in Albania to teach at for eight years, meeting her husband, who is also an educator, in the process. The couple then moved and taught in Thailand for a time, but it was cut short due to COVID-19.

During the pandemic, Turi莽i moved back to the U.S. with her husband until a friend of hers reached out about an opportunity in Kosovo.

鈥淚n the interview, they asked me about my goals and I said, 'Well, my ultimate goal is to be the coordinator and to be the head of a program,鈥欌�� Turi莽i said. 鈥淚 worked there for one year, then I was the coordinator of my program for three years. 鈥�

鈥淎nd then the head of the program left, and my boss was like, 鈥極K, so you know the people, you know everything now because in the Balkans, it takes a long time for people to kind of get to know you and trust you鈥︹�� She said, 鈥榃e're going to try it.鈥欌��

For the past few years in Kosovo, Turi莽i said her experience has been like any other life. She wakes up, goes to work, comes home, but for the 2004 alumna, it鈥檚 been an experience she鈥檒l always cherish, thanks to the people she otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have met.

鈥淚t's so fun. It's hard, but you'll make the best friends that you never, ever would have met,鈥� Turi莽i said. 鈥淚 could have stayed in the U.S., I could have stayed in my hometown, still see my parents and all that stuff, which is fine. It's a great, great thing, and I miss my parents a lot. 鈥�

鈥淏ut then, I wouldn't have my friends from Canada, Qatar and France and England, and I wouldn't have my kids. Those are all experiences that I had from traveling.鈥�