During my first professional career as an international teacher, for about two decades I worked in ten countries around the world spread over five continents. Also during that time, I wrote innumerable job applications for positions all over the world from Latin America in the south to Scandinavia in the North; from The United States of America in the West to Japan in the East, and many more positions in countries in between.
The following however was my first international job application during these times of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s, of course, a little different from all those that came before.
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Dear [name of director],
I am writing in response to the [description of position and name of school]. Truth be told, my friend and former colleague [name] drew my attention to it.
I should state on the outset that I have NOT taught Chemistry since the Fall of 2012. However, the prospect — albeit for [duration of the job] — of contributing to [name of school] education through conversations on larger and more pressing global issues as well as through my way of being is very attractive.
Birth as a member of the indigenous ethnic Tibetan community in Nepal meant birth into a poor family and community. We had next to no history of education. I wasn’t even expected to go to school. But, I have gotten very far in life – both literally and figuratively.
I graduated from high school; my four younger brothers along with a majority of my over-three-dozen first cousins didn’t. I didn’t stop there. I made it to the [United World College of the Adriatic in Italy] in 1990, completed undergraduate studies in the US, teacher training in Australia, and followed all that up with an international science teaching career. At some point during that time, I began thinking of — and viewing myself as — a human being first.
In 2013, the culmination of my teaching career in a traumatic twelve-day experience in a Qatari jail added yet another layer of incredible experiences I have had, albeit a deeply troubling and highly transformative one, not least because of the circumstances of my release. Living and working in Nepal since, navigating repatriation woes and lately tracking the [coronavirus] pandemic data in Nepal, all the while recovering from and dealing with the trauma, have added still other understanding, insight into, and more importantly questions about, life and the world.
The thousand times higher rate of extinction of other life forms humans are responsible for, the impending dramatic changes climate change is sure to bring — some already evident in parts of Nepal — and future pandemics to come etc., while reinforcing my belief in the shared destinies of not just all humans but all life, has also raised questions about humanity and what, who, why we are and, what and how we are doing. What’s the case for ensuring our species’ survival and how, for example?
For a long time the global need was for people of different cultures, religions, and nationalities to understand each other for world peace. Now, however, I believe, it’s to understand the shared destiny of life in general and the role of humanity in that. My unique background and broad life-experience-informed perspectives and way of being can enliven discussions on these and other topics at [name of school].
I would appreciate an opportunity to discuss this at greater length.
Sincerely,
Dorje Gurung
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What do you think?
