Michelle Candy, MA ’15

Profession: GED Adult Education instructor, North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Location: Bismarck, North Dakota

Worked in or travelled professionally to: China, Hong Kong, Oregon

I love making cross-cultural connections, both between myself and my students and between different groups of students.

What drew you to English language teaching?

I had an English degree in literature along with secondary teaching certification, and I figured I would teach high school English the rest of my life. Then, my husband and I went to northeast China for 15 months to teach conversational English at a Chinese teachers college from 1994 to 1995. I fell in love with teaching the language.

What did you enjoy most about your studies at APU?

In large part, I chose APU for the critical perspectives class. I looked at many TESOL-related programs, and none of them had a class like this at the time I was searching. That was the essential class for me. I loved putting in all the ideas I had been solidifying through the TESOL master’s program and focusing them through this course. Learning how to read and analyze research was hard work but so rewarding.

What have your professional travel experiences been like?

When my husband and I taught in northeast China, it absolutely changed our lives. We went from feeling culturally superior to humbly realizing that there were definitely things we should learn from our friends in China. We gained lifelong friends, some of whom we still consider family. Later, teaching pre-college and college literature, writing, and introduction to the Bible in Hong Kong, I fell in love once again with international teaching. I loved learning a totally different aspect of Chinese culture in this region. I also added Cantonese to the Mandarin I had learned previously.