Staff Interview: Ms. Williams

Could you tell us about your history as a teacher and what lead you to join VIS?

Growing up, being a teacher was the last thing I wanted to do, especially because the most common question I would get as an English major was "Do you want to be a teacher?" In the summer of my sophomore year in college, I went to an English summer camp in China. The first couple days, I failed miserably to the point I was in tears, but over time, I got better and fell in love with the students. I added a teaching major as an undergrad, did some education work, got my Master's in Teaching, and I have been teaching for 8 years now since getting my degree. As for coming to VIS, I knew I wanted to try teaching in Korea again, and I wanted to teach secondary school, which is hard because most school jobs in Korea are for elementary school. I also liked the idea of freely being able to talk about my faith and encouraging students in a Christian school setting.

If your students could describe you in three words, what do you think they'd pick, and why?

Weird, Unique, Humorous

What's the funniest or most unexpected thing a student has ever said or done in your class?

My first time teaching creative writing, I had students come up with conspiracy theories in groups and then they had to defend their conspiracy theory against their classmates' questions. The conspiracy was that the government controlled the weather through planes camouflaged as clouds, and a student asked where do they get the rain from. One of the presenting students (who was a senior last year) said it was from the pee of the people in the planes. I thought I said some strange things, but that was surprising even to me!

If you could instantly master any hobby or skill, what would you pick?

Speaking fluent Korean

Do teachers actually have favorite students?

I think it depends on the teacher, but it is discouraged. Most don't. I will say that teachers may have students they connect more easily with depending on how long they've known them, shared interests, commonalities, etc., but that doesn't mean that those students are their favorites or that they don't like other students as much, we just may not have had enough time together or found commonalities to talk about!

What is one piece of advice you wish all students could hear at least once?

It's okay to start over at any point in your life, whether that's changing career directions, chasing a new dream, or making small steps to recover/heal from your darkest moments.

If teaching weren't your job, what alternate career do you think you'd be in right now?

Originally, I wanted to be an editor for books, so maybe that. I am also interested in international relations, so probably something in that field, too.