Metro South is pleased to welcome Jessica Anderson, Metro South Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator! Jessica completed a BA in journalism and international studies at NDSU-North Dakota State University where she also studied abroad in Grenoble, France. She moved to Jinju, South Korea in 2008-2017 to teach English and fell in love with the country and city where she lived. At first, she started teaching basic English to Korean kids age 6-25 in an afterschool program and after a year, she was hired as an instructor at a Korean AirForce base teaching officers English and intercultural communication skills. Later Jess moved on to teach English to college students at Gyeongsang National University, along with serving as the Business English Program coordinator there. During that time she also served as guest English teacher for EPIK-English Program in Korea for high school students. While in Korea, she received her MEd. degree in education- learning, teaching and curriculum design with an emphasis in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) from the University of Missouri. She has great memories of Korea, she loved the welcoming people, the safety and the food. She also had the opportunity to travel around Southeast Asia and experience a variety of cultures and languages.
In March of 2017 she returned to the US to be closer to family and began a summer position working for the City of St. Paul in the Right Track program in administration.
At the end of the summer Jess started working at Hmong American Partnership (HAP) where she served as the ABE & Volunteer Program Coordinator before joining Metro South.
She loves ABE because she feels she can give back by building relationships with students and volunteers. Jess enjoys seeing students grow in their English language and life skills, becoming more independent and proficient in navigating society in the USA. She looks forward to getting to know the volunteers and staff at Metro South and is happy to be back in an academic setting.
Welcome Jess!