Hello! My name is Justin, and welcome to my blog! I hope to use this space as a platform to simply document my experiences in South Korea as a Fulbright ETA. I plan to post, on average, about once a week, although this may change depending on how busy I become.

I’m a 23 year old (in American age) South Korean adoptee that grew up in the small rural town of Weare, New Hampshire. I attended college at the University of Vermont, where I majored in Neuroscience and minored in Pharmacology.

As a student on the pre-med track, I never anticipated that I would be interested in teaching English, nor was it on my radar until the senior year of my undergraduate career. A friend of mine told me about the Fulbright grant, which I had heard about, but never considered applying for since it was notoriously competitive. Yet, the South Korea Fulbright Elementary ETA position perfectly fit the post graduate, gap year plan I was searching for. Not only would it allow me to rediscover my Korean identity and explore the culture that I was ignorant to, but I would also finally have the opportunity to learn Korean in both a classroom and authentic setting. As someone who studied the brain for four years, I also recognized that this could be an opportunity to have a truly tangible and profound impact on young students’ lives. This coincided with my envy of multilingual speakers who learned two or more languages growing up, and while I missed out on that opportunity, I wanted to ensure others did not. Thus, I submitted my application, and after months of waiting, was fortunate to end up as a grantee for this very prestigious program.

I am currently teaching at Suncheon High School, an all boys high school in the Jeollanam-do province. While it was not the Elementary experience I had hoped for, I am nonetheless gracious and excited for this upcoming grant year. I live with my two host parents and one younger brother, who is in his second year of high school.

If you want to get in contact with me, or want more regular updates on my journey, follow me on Instagram: @_justinabbott.

The views expressed in this blog are mine alone and are not affiliated with the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State.