When you give up the next time…

Last summer my colleague Olga suggested that I should try my luck and write a speaker proposal for the upcoming IATEFL conference 2016. I remember those days in July 2015, they were not only stuffed with expectations and hopes. Sadly, I accidentally injured my neck and I was experiencing a terrible pain those days, every day was just a nightmare,  so I should say writing a speaker proposal turned out to be a real pain in the neck. Along with a proposal I was preparing 7 to 9 applications for IATEFL scholarships, don’t remember the exact number. Thinking, drafting, editing – I love these words, they are symbols of those summer days. But everything comes to its end, sooner or later. In august I spent wonderful weeks in the Crimea with my family and came back to work full of hope. But there was nothing to hope for. My scholarships applications did not win, but it was only September, and my speaker proposal could still be chosen and I started waiting for the e-mail from IATEFL. And I got it, in late November. Due to some considerable reasons my company could not pay for my participation and that meant I was not about to attend it anyway. To tell the truth, I was upset and completely frustrated about all this. Of course, presenting a talk at IATEFL conference was my dream, though it might sound banal and even trivial. The only difference is that all it was about MY dreams…

Last Friday I was traveling home when I heard a twit-twit sound of my smartphone announcing an email received. It was a message from a certain Patrick, I wasn’t very interested at first sight. The email ran, that though I hadn’t won the scholarship, Macmillan was very impressed by my entry and they were about to propose a special prize for me, including the excerpt of my entry published on the Scholarship page and a 6-month free subscription to Onestopenglish.com. Truth be told, nothing could compare to my elation and joy when I received that message. There were days full of dismay and despair, and now there are days full of sunshine in my soul. On Saturday I called Olya and told her about it, I wanted to share my feelings. And I also thanked her for such an unforgettable experience.

Now I´m back to work, surfing onestopenglish.com in search for new activities for my students. I´m happy to see the excerpt of my entry and my name together with names of teachers from Romania, Italy, Taiwan, Switzerland… I´m happy to be here among those who love teaching. Now I know for sure:

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Thanks for reading!