- January 31, 2022
"Global Teaching Labs allowed me to experience culture in Andorra and learn about the education system in another country from teachers themselves. I never would have been exposed to this otherwise."
Baula never thought she would have the opportunity to teach and learn in a country that most people have never heard of.
Embraced by mountains and culture
Baula taught at Escola Andorrana de Baxillerat, working with the technology and engineering teacher at the school. She was able to teach PHP and SQLite to her students in addition to providing insight into the differences between the United States and Andorra. She was able to help students who had never used computers before learn to code, and provided presentations about her experiences at MIT.
Outside of teaching, Baula was able to explore much of the nature Andorra had to offer. She was awed by the beauty of the mountains surrounding her. She found that Andorrans were very family centric, and was embraced as part of the family very quickly. When her host brother celebrated his birthday, over 25 members of his family showed up to dinner, which surprised Baula a lot. Overall, she had an incredible time exploring the mountains, whether it being through snowshoeing, dogsledding, or riding snowmobiles.
Baula learned a lot in terms of how attitudes toward education differ in Andorra versus the United States. In addition, she learned about her strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. She would definitely make sure to spend extra time with any students that were struggling with the material outside of class if given the opportunity. She would recommend GTL to any student that wants to experience a completely different culture from their own. In the future, Baula hopes to take more time to teach others and speak to people from all different cultures.