When You Have 2 Years to Wait Before You Can Apply

unfortunately, while my friends are graduating, i feel somewhat like i'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs. because of my high school exchange and having a baby while in university, i'm about 2 years behind everyone else my age. i know that i want to apply to JET, but i can't even begin to do that for another 2 years! anyway, i thought, "wait a minute, why DO i have to sit here doing nothing?!" so here is a list of things to do while i wait, which is for your benefit as much as it is for mine (i tend to be forgetful if i don't write things down).

1. get a job or volunteer, especially one that involved teaching, culture, or children. not only will this give you experience for your resume and JET application, but it will also give you an idea of if you really want to do this kind of job or not.

2. save, save, save! do research on cutting costs and saving money. you will want/need money for application documents, an interview outfit, transportation costs to the interview, getting set up in japan, and taking trips or making purchases in japan. in the worst case that you don't get accepted, now you've got a nice stockpile of cash!

3. study japanese! this doesn't need to be formal training. watching doramas and listening to japanese music counts too. one thing i did before i went on my high school exchange was tape index cards to every object in the house. the cards had the english word, kanji, hiragana/katakana, and romanji.

4. start preparing yourself for writing your application and answering interview questions. knowing motivations, information about your country, practicing answering questions, writing your letter of intent, etc. but the most important thing is to know about yourself.

5. start decluttering your life. you have probably accumulated a lot of crap over the years, so just think of how long it's going to take you to get rid of it. plus a garage sale or reselling online can get you money!

How it All Started...

perhaps this is a little premature, but after all my purpose here is to document my entire journey before, during, and after the JET program.
when i was 18 years old, i went to osaka as a high school exchange student. although i went home early, i started looking into other ways of returning to japan. as one of the most well-known programs, JET was easy to find. when i was 19 i started university, with the idea of applying to JET once i had finished my degree lingering somewhere in the back of my mind. however, that same year i got pregnant and when i was 20 i had my daughter, yana. i felt that having a child had ruined any option of returning to japan, especially on a cultural exchange progam like JET.
a few years later, when i was 22, a high school friend of mine applied and was accepted to the JET program. my old interests were rekindled. i spent the next few days immersing myself in websites and blogs, trying to scrounge up information. i discovered that perhaps my dreams could come true and maybe, just maybe i could become a JET. but i would have to work hard. i still had 2 years left in my degree and it certainly wouldn't be easy to get my family to japan, let alone go through the application and interview process. but i was determined.
i may have years to go, but this here marks the beginning of my journey as a JET mama.