Alumni Experience
A graduate of the M.A. TESOL program in 2013, Jessica has seen how the degree is useful for both teaching and other language-related positions. Jessica spent several years working as a Communications Specialist at Earth Economics, a non-profit research organization in Tacoma, WA, before getting back into academia to work in international student advising.
Earth Economics works with policymakers, businesses, investors, and others to consider nature in investment and policy decisions. As a Communications Specialist, Jessica facilitated both internal and external communications. She worked on a range of projects, from editing research reports, to facilitating their website redesign work and writing new content to distribute to the public, potential funders, and clients. Jessica commented, "I use what I learned at Portland State all the time as I help our researchers and analysts with writing skills and effective communication of in-depth, complicated topics for a very broad, general audience!"
Before starting at Earth Economics, Jessica participated in the Panama Teacher Match Program (http://www.partners.net/panama-teacher-match) administered by Partners of the Americas. The program is a joint initiative of the Panamanian government and the US Department of State. Jessica was placed at an elementary school in Las Tablas, Panama, where she worked with six different English teachers and the cutest bunch of kids who were all very eager to test out their English with a teacher from the US. At the end of the experience, she also conducted a teacher training workshop for the English department: "It was a fantastic experience and such a great opportunity to help develop a new program and challenge myself. I've been able to stay involved a bit in helping review the next round of applicants, and may also be serving as a mentor/resource for the next teachers."