 I'm currently finishing up my translation program. I'm doing translation from French into English and I'm also completing the TESL program. I was born and grew up here in Canada. I don't have a very interesting story for that. Hello everybody. My name is Samuel or call me Yin Chen in my official documents. I'm doing currently during the TESL program and my background is I'm from Hong Kong and I've been wanting to do some teaching program, a practiculum. So this is a really, really great opportunity for me to do and yeah. My name is Dai Wei Jin. I'm studying the TESL certificate program in York University. I want to get the TESL certificate so I can teach English back in China. I'm planning to do some PhD program in computer science so it's very good to have a TESL certificate on hand so I can get some part-time job. I've always had teaching as part of my one of my goals in the future but I've never had the opportunity to do it. But Saskia's program has offered me a very, very good opportunity to get experience, get plenty of work done to achieve what I can. I feel like because I'm coming straight out of school trying to enter the teaching field, I'm going to be one of the very, one of the youngest teachers and I'm a little bit intimidated by the fact I feel like a child in comparison to all of the ESL teachers I've seen and all of my, even in comparison to some of my peers. So I'm hoping that by the end of the TESL program I'll feel completely prepared and ready to enter the field as a full-fledged professional. She gave me a lot of advice. I had the fortunate opportunity to do both online and in person. Both classes offer different functionalities in terms of ESL teaching. I've learned a lot about link programs in particular and how they are so much more than just English teaching and ESL learning. Education goes so much further than just English learning. It has to do with life skills, adjusting to a new country, adjusting to a completely new culture and environment that's probably very intimidating for them. So I learned a lot about link programs especially. The difference between textbook and reality, it's quite shocking. I figured I should you know, based on the textbook, the theory I learned in the TESL certificate program, but the reality told me that I should only refer to the textbook what I learned. My mentor teacher is amazing. She is so warm and caring and she just feels like an aunt figure or like a mother figure rather than a just a teacher. She is very amazing at creating an extremely warm and comfortable environment for everyone so that everyone feels comfortable to try and express themselves the best way that they can. She did a wonderful job, introduced me to the teaching process and to her students. She kind of helped me to relax in the classroom. She showed me how to organize the classroom to go through the teaching process step by step. I've learned stuff such as timing, how to transition from activity to activity, how to lay out lesson plan, all sorts of things. It's a combination and it's a wonderful experience and it's very sophisticated. They were in the yearly bridge program so they didn't go through the IELTS test. I went through the very stressful test taking, but the yearly bridge program is a kind of a life saver for most of the students in the classroom. So I guess it's a wonderful program for them. I wish I was in that program. Some of them we could say, oh I just want here to get through, want to get by the exam. Everybody has a different objective, but for the ones who really want to engage in the classes, they want to assimilate into Canada and our courses, our program, ESL programs, DLL programs, that's the aim. You want the students to be involved in Canada and those classes are great immersion to do it. Every one of them is so different. Some of them are extremely shy. Other ones love to make jokes and are kind of like the class clown. Other ones are very reserved and others are so talkative and outgoing. There's so much diversity in their personalities even within just a group of only 14 students. So I feel like that's the thing that stood out to me the most is how much diversity there is even within a class of people who are supposedly coming from the same background. I would probably tell myself to not be so nervous about it. I was really nervous about the whole observation, going into the field, actually interacting with other ESL teachers, but especially when my mentor teacher is so warm and caring. She really helped me feel relaxed. So I would probably first say don't be so nervous and I don't want to say don't take it so seriously, but don't take it so seriously. I was very confident to be an English teacher, to be honest. Placement showed me that my English proficiency was not a decisive factor. I realized I could be a good teacher. Everybody is very, very, very scared of what's going to come. It's a practical. You have to be placed into a real life scenario. What I can tell myself is don't panic. Enjoy the experience. Calm, learn and listen to what your mentor teacher tells you. If the teacher himself is good, then you should learn from him or her. I chose this program not to be an English teacher, but to improve my English proficiency, to be honest. I figured why didn't I go to the place where English teacher was produced? It turned out to be a great choice. I think Cantonese speaking ability, it really helps in certain situations. For example, if I am in a class full of Cantonese speakers, but imagine you could be placed in an immigrant classroom with so much background. I don't think you should just take it for granted and say, oh, this background is going to help me. It could help in certain circumstances, but you have got to realize there are way more options out there in the field. When it comes to those things that seem a little bit more menial, like all the administrative things, like the background checks and the certificates and extra things that you need to fill out online, I would also say to not procrastinate on those, because those will catch up to you, and they seem like such small things to do, but you should try and get them done as soon as you can so that they don't become an issue later down the road.