According to Bishop Dale C.

Branner, “Pursuing your God-given dream is never easy but

always worth it! Never give up when you’re working on something that’s destined to be great.”
With this, I wish to be a part of the success stories that I have read on your website. These
success stories inspired me to pursue my greatest dream and that is to live and work in a
foreign country. I am applying for a teaching position and I am hoping that you can help me in
fulfilling my dream.

My name is Kate A. Yurag, a 22-year old teacher from Cebu City, Philippines. I am
currently affiliated to Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion – Mandaue, one of the exemplary
schools in Cebu, for two years now. Last school year (2017-2018), I was a Grade 4 Adviser and
was teaching Science 4, Math 1, and Civics and Culture 1. I was also a Club Moderator for
Religious and Dance Clubs. This school year (2018-2019), I am a Grade 1 Adviser and a Civics
and Culture teacher for Grades 1 and 2. I am also a Club Moderator for Religious, Dance, and
Arts’ Clubs.

I am the youngest in the family. I have 2 older siblings, but I didn’t grow up in a normal
family. My father left us when I was in 6 th grade. He left the day after the college graduation of
my oldest brother. Beforehand, he never showed any signs of leaving us behind. As a matter of
fact, we were always elected as the Best Family in our barangay. My mother was just a simple
housewife back then, so when this twist of fate happened, my mother’s world crumbled down
and so did ours.

A lot had changed since then. I took this unfortunate event as a challenge for me to
strive harder to reach my dreams. Instead of feeling down and getting highly emotional, I
motivated myself to be stronger because you will never know when will something unfavorable
happen. This event is an opportunity to develop my fullest potential that I can use in my field of
expertise someday. I will always remember the words of my father whenever I have exams. He
used to tell me, “Trust the Lord and give it all to Him.” That’s the best advice that I got from him
when I was a child. I pray and I never stop praying. With the help of my family, I graduated Cum
Laude in one of the top universities in the Philippines — Cebu Normal University. My family is
my life since its their hands that helped me get to where I am now – a proud teacher. Because
of them, I want to venture more in greater opportunity. I want to take my chances and submit
everything to God.

I am equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to help develop and to utilize
effective teaching strategies. With my experiences, trainings, commitment to work, and passion
to teach, I learned how to manage both higher and lower grade level students. I also learned to
align appropriate teaching strategies to diverse students and to respond to the needs of my
different colleagues. This made me more enthusiastic and developed my true passion in
teaching. My active involvement in school activities has done me so well in developing my
communication skills and leadership skills. I have also acquainted myself with a wide range of
skills that allow me to blend with different people and continuously strive to reach common goals
amidst failures and setbacks. I guess my biggest secret is that I put love in everything I do and
that I always pray for success for our God is faithful who can make anything possible. With all
this, however, I am still very willing to be trained in order to become a better educator. And
those are the reasons why US school districts should hire me.

And the last thing I want you to know on what is my biggest why I want to teach in the
US is to make a good difference in the lives of my students. In return, I believe that the students
will also make a difference in my life. I believe that they can greatly help me in adjusting to a
new country that has a different culture compared to the Philippines. I take part in shaping their
future, I know they’ll take part of mine too. To God be the glory!