Help Maegan teach English in Poland! (& also not go insane!)

Maegan here ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. I recently left my job under less-than-ideal circumstances and am in a transitional period where I'm doing some soul searching/trying to figure out what's next for me.

While applying for new job opportunities, a thought crept into my head: maybe, just maybe, I could pause for a little bit and volunteer abroad instead... I mean frankly I'm burnt out, and a series of illnesses has sapped my savings and my will to keep on trucking. Usually, helping others takes you out of yourself, reminds you of why life is beautiful, and gives you purpose, or at least perspective-- I could really use some of that. SO! I submitted my information to a Poland-based program called Angloville (lol), in the hopes of being an elderly ESL companion.

But the universe is crazy, and instead, they offered me a position as what is essentially a summer camp counselor for Polish teenagers. It's sort of a job, as they do offer a little stipend, but it's really only enough to cover pocket money, or low-cost travel within Poland, making it more like a volunteer/exchange. I've still got to figure out how I'm going to afford to get over there in the first place (or pay my bills back home while I'm gone), but they provide full accommodation and vegan meals, plus a TEFL certification after completion of the three week program (July 20 - Aug 9). This last part is really exciting, because becoming TEFL certified would allow me to find jobs teaching English pretty much anywhere in the world after this, and since it's an expensive certificate to get on your own, this makes the opportunity to be an ESL camp counselor with Angloville a really awesome deal-- even if they don't help with flight costs.

Aaand that's how I find myself here on GoFundMe, asking after the kindness of friends, family, and maybe even strangers. It feels weird (bad) asking for financial help this way, but not having heard back from any other job opportunities, I'm at a loss for what else I can do. I'm donating plasma and doing odd jobs here and there, but it's not enough and I need to purchase these flights in what is an increasingly rapidly shrinking time frame. I've never done anything like this before: publicly asking for assistance online, or being a camp counselor, but I've got the courage to do both I think.

Imagine me, in the Polish countryside, teaching kids ESL, playing Ship to Shore, hopefully learning something about myself, and maybe even figuring out what comes next... This could really be a majorly life-impacting opportunity, and I don't want to miss the chance to do something meaningful and cool in Poland this summer.

Please help me get to Poland!! <3333333

xoxo

maegan