Oksana Moroz

Educational Journey Narrative

 

My first authentic English language textbook series was called Opportunities. Since that time, the word “opportunity” was one of my favorite words in English, because it succinctly describes how I feel about English language and its global purpose. During my undergraduate studies at university, I realized what I wanted to do in the English language sphere, and since then, I have been trying to achieve needed competencies and skills. Working with people, tutoring kids in English, and volunteering are my favorite activities. Education in the US is an opportunity for me to gain academic and cultural experience that will remain forever and will help me to assess things from different perspectives.

            The main reason I decided to apply for the Fulbright program and enter an American university was my great desire to earn a Master’s degree in TESOL as I am very interested in facets of English language teaching that are not yet much explored in Ukrainian schools. The lack of appropriate educational opportunities and resources in my native country has made me consider different options for continuing my education abroad.

            I am from the very beautiful mountainous city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, where I attended a grammar school that specializes in the study of English. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to study and use English every day. In 2007, I was a finalist for FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange Program) and was granted the opportunity to study in California for a year at a small private school called Vistamar. While at Vistamar, I enjoyed extracurricular creative writing workshops and writing articles and essays based on my exchange experience for the school newspaper. But after I returned to Ukraine, and especially when I entered Vasyl Stefanyk National University, my English writing skills weakened due to the lack of writing classes. Nevertheless, I found a way to keep my passion for writing alive; I became the Western Ukraine’s Alumni Coordinator for the FLEX program. This job involved a lot of writing and communication as I organized different charity events, talked to sponsors and participants, and then wrote press releases, articles, and reports about the events.

My parents are both teachers, and if I do not actually have a teaching gene, I have grown up with teachers as role models. In 2010, I started working as an English language tutor for children aged from three seventeen. I enjoyed teaching them reading, writing and communication. I can still recall that one day when a three-year-old girl came up to me and named all of the colors by heart, without me correcting or helping her. Later, in 2013, I was offered a job as an ESL teacher at the local college where I taught a group of girls twice a week.

            I have also written some articles concerning women’s rights, ecological issues, and my experience as an exchange student. Some of these were for a local newspaper and others for online resources. My undergraduate thesis explored the linguostylistic and compositional means of conveying human emotions in the twentieth-century English Literature. In order to obtain a Specialist’s Diploma in English Philology, I did my thesis based on the linguocultural aspect of the word Wisdom in English-speaking societies. I have also presented my thesis study at the International Scientific Conference, Uzhgorod National University in 2014. While researching these topics, I started to appreciate the richness of the English language even more and grew interest in studying Rhetoric, Composition and Second Language Acquisition, fields of study available in English-based educational systems but relatively unexplored in Ukraine.

My main area of interest is gender differences in Language acquisition process; therefore, I wanted to write a thesis researching this problem in Ukraine. However, my advisor suggested putting off my research as there were very few articles written about gender and language in Ukraine. I believe that MATESOL program at IUP will give me the necessary practical experience in the spheres of my interest as well as an opportunity to expand my views in these spheres. I am positive that I will gain the skills I am looking for, and will contribute significantly to other environments. I am also interested in human rights issues, gender equality problems, and other issues connected with social injustices. I am always capable of stepping aside from the purely lingual approach in favor of the more contextually and situationally relevant conceptual and culturally tentative approach, which I believe is a plus in the teaching career.

            Everything I learn in the US will be of great benefit not only to me but for my society as well. One of my favorite mottos is “Act locally, think globally,” which succinctly describes my dream of establishing a TESOL program in Ukraine, one step at a time. After finishing my Master’s program at IUP, I would like to teach English writing and eloquence on a volunteer basis. These courses will be based on a person-to-person approach (tutoring), which I believe is the most effective way to learn a real language.  Since a Master’s degree is sufficient for many university teaching jobs, I would apply for one in my hometown. Therefore, I would like to expand my knowledge of language studies at IUP and take back my academic experience for the benefit of others interested in these areas. I believe that my US education will enrich not only me but also a wide range of people who will be able to take advantage from what I have learned abroad.