I am Efram, currently living and teaching in Doha, Qatar. I have been involved in teaching since the age of 16, when I began working as a swim instructor. Since then, teaching has been (more or less) a part of my life. I have taught swimming, life-guarding, first aid, CPR, motorcycle road racing, scale model building and painting, continuing medical education and am now training paramedics (the reason I have come to the Middle East.)
I'm not sure how I began down my path of teaching. My father and mother had diverse interests and were eager to share them with me, including photography, cycling, swimming and textiles. Perhaps seeing them so enthusiastically impart knowledge has ingrained itself deep within my psyche. I often hear my father or mother's voice echo inside my thoughts as I strive to facilitate other people's path to understanding.
My career in paramedicine is what ultimately landed me teaching full time. I enrolled at Algonquin College in Ottawa, my hometown, at the tender age of 21, (in the year 2002, for the record). The paramedic program was a rude awakening, and I failed out within 6 weeks of the first semester. Determined to succeed, I set about rethinking my priorities in life and the following 2 1/2 years changed the course of my life. I made a few close friends, and set off down a career path that would shape me into the person I am today.
The intensity of this career is underscored by periods of serenity, and the experiences that any paramedic lives through leave indelible imprints. It's hard to imagine many other jobs that become part of you and change you. Teaching, I believe, is yet another example of just such a job. It engages you, enrages you, humbles you, makes you smile, makes you cry and makes you marvel, all in one day.
Talk soon,
Efram
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