Just Call Me Miss Bryant!

That's right everyone, I have officially accepted my first "big girl" job!! I couldn't be more excited to start the transition into this next journey! With a job offer accepted and a year-long contract signed, I will be teaching English at Dover American International School in El Sherouk, a suburb of Cairo, Egypt! (Keep reading, and I promise I'll explain it all!)

As many of you may know, I have been applying to both local and international schools over the past two months. I registered with Search Associates (see my blog post about that here) over Christmas break and have since been utilizing all my free time (ha!) to research schools and apply for jobs.

At the end of January I had contacted Dover (among many other schools) via the Search Associates database to indicate my interest in their open English teaching positions. About a week later, I received an email from the principal asking to hold a preliminary Skype interview. You can imagine my excitement!! With the hundreds of schools in the database and the thousands of other candidates, I was thrilled to have even received a reply! My first Skype interview went remarkably well, and after an hour (which sped by), the principal asked me to send along my teacher evaluations before admitting me to the second round of interviews. Being the eager almost-new teacher, I sent them along the following day! The principal was quite impressed with my evaluations, and asked to hold the second interview within the next couple of days. He also invited my parents to "attend" this interview to ask their (MANY) questions. Right at the beginning of the second interview, he offered me a job!! I was obviously floored, but also exceedingly proud! The principal told me that he had twelve candidates interviewing for five positions, and that I was in his top five. After another long conversation (mainly about the details of the contract and answering my parents' questions), we signed off with me still in a little bit of shock. I asked for some time to think over his offer before making a decision, which he graciously agreed to. If you'd like more information about either of my interviews, I did type notes throughout and would be willing to share them.

Something very important in my decision-making was asking to be connected with current new female teachers at the school. A few days after the job offer, I had the opportunity to chat with a first year teacher and a fourth year teacher via Skype. What a wonderful conversation!!! We spent over and hour chatting about moving to Egypt, living in Egypt, teaching at the school, and so much more. Again, I typed up notes during this conversation, and I'd be happy to share them with anyone who would like more details.

The very next day, I decided that this job offer was perfect for me. I've been searching and praying about my future, and after careful consideration, many conversations, and lots of late nights spent thinking, I'm wonderfully happy to have this opportunity!!

To learn more about Dover American International School, feel free to contact me directly, or check out the school's website: http://www.daisegy.com/ I promise to write more specific blog posts at a later date to talk more about my travel, accommodations, benefits, and other things related to my new job. (How cool does that sound??)

Thank you all in advance for your continued support and prayers as I embark on this exciting new chapter in my life! I'm looking forward to continuing to share my experiences here with you all :)