What’s on your bucket list?  Travel? Adventure? Stretching your comfort zone?  BHS alumnus Jordan McCutcheon can check all those off her bucket list and, if history repeats itself, it will inspire her to add even more items to it.  McCutcheon arrived in Chile on March 31 after an unyielding yearning for adventure propelled her to follow her longtime passion.  In the next year, living in a foreign country, she hopes to strengthen her Spanish skills, her faith, and her love of adventure.

 

McCutcheon had some great opportunities while she attended College of Charleston in Charleston, SC.  She studied Corporate Communications and Spanish and graduated in 2009 having had internships with two very prestigious companies.  The problem was, workers all around her were being downsized and the job market seemed quite dismal at the time.  She began to question what she wanted to do and, knowing she loved to travel, decided to backpack across Europe.  She had the opportunity to study abroad in college, immersing herself in Spanish culture before she even knew the language.  That experience was both challenging and intoxicating as she came to know the nuances of the language and the culture. 

 

On her European adventure, she was able to see Paris, San Sebastian, Barcelona, Cinque Terre, Rome, Sienna, Florence, Interlaken, Prague and Munich.  “It was the best experience of my life so far,” she said.  That is when she knew that travel would not be a temporary part of her life.  Flash forward to the present.  While in Chile, McCutcheon will be working with The Language Company to teach one-on-one and small group English classes.  The company encourages creative control for their teachers and the personalized planning appealed to her style.  “I want to widen the horizons of people in another country while honing my Spanish skills.” 

 

McCutcheon’s contract will run from April till December, allowing her time to travel throughout South America on her off months.  While in college, she became involved with a community garden project that taught children how to cultivate their own food.  She is hoping to do something similar while in Chile.  Teaching kids to respect the earth, respect others, and respect themselves would help instill in them the values that she holds dear.

 

Currently, McCutcheon is living in a hostel with eight other girls and a shortage of bathrooms.  Although she is enjoying her new friendships, she is excited to get an apartment and immerse herself in the Chilean culture.  While there, she hopes to encourage her students to stretch their comfort zones and develop a love of learning a new language.  “It is so colorful and alive where I am living,” she said, “it has a lot to teach me.”  Some of those lessons include keeping an open mind, embracing change and finding things to add to her bucket list for future explorations.