Why am I grateful for this opportunity to be a language assistant?

For me, the experience of working as an auxiliar de conversacion has provided me a million new opportunities to learn - from trying to communicate in and improve a second language, to helping with English in a geology class (which I've never had the opportunity to take before), or learning to cook some new Spanish some new dish/food. The truth is I'm here to learn  much as I am here to teach English. I even learn new things about English every time I try to explain one of its many generalizations or inconsistencies. Teaching swimming healed me to realize that kids don't learn the same way, and with some kids you Hve to explain the same thing a million different time and in a million different way before you find the one that will work for that child. This is just as true now as it was then, and it can seem infinitely harder to explain something with just the right words for the understanding of an ESL student. Something I try to do without using too much Spanish.
I've only been here for two and a half months, but I have already learned so much. What will I learn in four months? Or six? Or a year?

What does it mean to be a life-long learner? And why is it important to be one?

Being a life-long learner means looking for the lessons in everything: our mistakes and successes, in the things a child's sees that we so often forget as adults, and in knowing that no one is perfect and we can all always try to do just a little better than we did the day before. It means enjoying, and making a point to look for, every opportunity to learn - an we fact, a new word, or a new skill.
To me it means developing patience: being willing to take the time to find the lessons and revise the way I explain or teach something, even though it would be so much easier to just say the same thing in the same way over and over again. It means revising how I think about the world and learning new ways to think about, well, everything.
This is important to me in learning about myself as a teacher. If I expect the children I teach to get better everyday, how can I expect anything less of myself?

Why did I choose to participate in the cultural ambassadors program?

Having taught swimming lessons all the way through my undergraduate degree, I have been wondering if teaching would be a good fit for me as a career. I chose this program for a couple of reasons. I wanted to see if I would enjoy teaching in a classroom setting as much as I enjoyed teaching swimming lessons. This way I have the opportunity to learn about different teaching styles and different educations systems. And I get to learn so much more: I get to learn a new language, a new culture and teaching a second language Additionally, I've always wanted to see the world - to learn new languages and cultures, and to experience different perspectives. There are always new things to learn, wherever I go. Whether I'm teaching a child or taking a class or seeing a new city or country, I always learn something new. The truth is, if I do want to be a a teacher there is still a lot for me to learn: about myself, about planning lessons and classroom management, about recognizing students needs and abilities, and about the world. The world is more connected now than ever and I need to learn about being a student of the world before I can teach a student to become one.