When Katherine Karel transferred to Loyola University Chicago as a sophomore, she never imagined that just a few years later, she'd be teaching English in Thailand, riding a motorbike to school, and doing martial arts training six times a week. But that’s exactly where her Loyola education led her.

Katherine graduated in 2024 with a B.A. in History and a B.S. in Secondary Education. Originally from Spokane, Washington, she found a welcoming, tight-knit community at Loyola that helped her adjust to city life in Chicago. More importantly, she found her calling.

“I had always known I wanted to work with kids in a meaningful way,” she says. “But it wasn’t until my time at Loyola doing my education major that I realized I wanted to teach.”

Courses like Race and Education in the United States, Philosophy of Education, and Historical Methods sharpened her skills and shaped her identity as a thoughtful educator. A May Term trip to Loyola’s Rome Center with the School of Education left a lasting impression and planted an early seed of curiosity about working abroad. Still, teaching overseas wasn’t part of her original plan.

“I thought it might be cool, but the idea overwhelmed me more than intrigued me,” Katherine admits. But in her final semester, after encouragement from professors and friends, she took the leap and applied to teach internationally in either Thailand or Spain. She chose Thailand for one simple reason: “It scared me the most. It was the farthest I could get from my comfort zone which is why I went for it.”

In Fall 2024, Katherine started teaching in Chiang Rai, Thailand, with support from the CIEE Teach Abroad program and its local partner, the Overseas Ed Group. The program handled everything from visas to orientation, allowing her to focus on building a supportive community. Among her fellow teachers, she even found a roommate who became like family.

Her days now look very different from they did during her student-teaching in Chicago. She teaches a mix of grammar, reading, and communication classes to over 400 students ranging from 7th to 11th grade. Unlike in the U.S., she rotates between classrooms and sees many students just once a week.

“The biggest difference is the automatic respect that teachers receive here,” she says. “Even students I don’t know greet me with a wai [a bow] and a smile. It’s humbling and joyful just walking through the halls.”

There were challenges: navigating a language barrier, adjusting to a new food culture, and letting go of structured schedules in favor of a more flexible Thai approach to communication. But Loyola had prepared her in unexpected ways.

“Scaffolding, culturally responsive teaching, and adaptability—those are skills I learned at Loyola that I use every day,” she says. “My Loyola professors drilled the importance of meeting students where they are, and that’s what I do here too.”

Outside the classroom, Katherine has made the most of her time in Thailand. She’s traveled with students to Singapore and Malaysia, taught Disney-themed Zumba sessions at English camps, and fallen in love with Muay Thai, training six days a week at a local gym. But the bond she’s built with her students has been the most rewarding part of her trip.

“At first, I was discouraged because of the language barrier. But really, I just needed to give it time. The longer I worked here, the closer we got and continue to get. We joke together, learn together, and several have confided in me for advice about life. Loyola teaches us how important having a positive rapport is with our students, I can attest that it makes all the difference both in my life and in the lives of the students.”

Katherine plans to return to the U.S. to teach social studies in the near future, but she’ll bring back a global perspective and a renewed sense of purpose. “The wonderful cliches about teaching abroad are numerous and often true. My advice to anyone thinking about teaching abroad it this: if the only thing holding you back is fear, then I’d encourage you to push yourself.”

By: Dylan Peterson
September, 2025