Liz's Site

No Matter What Happens

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 08:19:50 -0800

Recruiting time for international educators is a whirlwind of a time, trying to find and be the perfect missing puzzle piece. But before any decision is known for me (because I do not know), I think it is important for me to write this, to know that it is not with bias toward someone who gave me a ‘job’. This is as authentic a reflection as it can be… as a candidate, this remains true, no matter what happens.

There are moments in our careers when we meet a leader who reminds us why leadership matters—and moments when we meet one who reminds us why it must change.

At one finalist stage, I found myself sitting across from a Head of School who spoke as if their institution existed on a shimmering mountaintop far above all others. I was meant to be dazzled, silenced, grateful. Grateful to be in the presence of such excellence, grateful to even imagine entering its orbit. My questions - which I’d argue (perhaps in my own bias, sure) - were reasonable, professional, rooted in curiosity, and they were met with defensiveness, the recognizable tone of, "How dare you?"

How dare you not show up to our space with awe?
How dare you not recognize the privilege of being evaluated by us?
There are people here who will “eat you alive,” they had said, should you ask that question again.

By the time they told me I didn’t get the job, it wasn't couched as reflection or learning or fit. It was a short, one working-day-turn-around shrug. Our miss, they said. We’ll restart the process. Their words felt less like closure or reflective conversation but one last assertion of power.

And I remember thinking:
This is what happens when a leader forgets they are human.
This...Read More

Kintsugi.

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 08:17:53 -0700

A Reflection.
There is a piece in my iCloud Pages files entitled, “May 9, 2023 Weeping”.
At the time, I had written this with so much sadness as an American of Korean descent, as a human, but mostly, as a mother who was holding a soon-to-be 3yo then. I didn’t want to share it with the world, because I was breaking - but only with those whom I hold as ‘my people’, my kitchen table people, as Michelle Obama would say - and as Fran Prolman reminded me this summer in Princeton, encouraging a roomful of incredible women to “never neglect your kitchen table.”
My kitchen table.
When I look around it, my people are global, and it’s almost as if they are in unique rooms that hold the essence of me in different moments of Life. A sampling? I hear “I Will Remember You”, “Party Like It’s 1999”; I smell Bougainvilleas, henna ink, and I swear Derek Hough’s sweat (he feels so close on that huge TV screen!); I taste peach & watermelon gummies, tannins of red wine; I feel my eyes turning into crescent moons from laughter and the warmth of my tears; I see Wonder Women.
Wonder women.
Have you met one?
I held space with 34 this summer. I sat with them, ate with them, laughed with them, cried with them, Lego’ed with them. Women who understand that there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women. Women who understand that change happens slowly but are willing to wait...Read More

Life and Death

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 02:09:53 -0800

I share on social media the beauties of my life, my current trip to India, but Life continues to happen in myriad ways in the background. I guess I share because in the midst of our crazy lives, the ‘social’ aspect really happens here through cyberspace; when was the last time you got to share about an intimate story of your life at a happy hour, a work social, or even at your own wedding? But how many celebrations do you get to congratulate, rejoice in, and high-five through social media and how many losses have you gotten to console, reach out over time and space and pause to think about someone who has mattered, and quietly still does in some special part of your past, to you?
Maybe part of it is arrogance in thinking that what I have to say has weight, depth. Maybe it’s just personal therapy. Maybe.
Regardless, here’s my blog, and here’s my space, and my decision to be social in sharing a death that has made me reflect on Life.
I left for my trip to India frazzled and worried for my mom who lost a man who was her father-figure, my (작은) 할아버지, in lieu of her own. I frantically booked her a ticket back to the US from Seoul after halting everything at work and spent the night with her as she continued to say, “I’m okay” from a day spent calling other family members to deliver the news of his passing.
I was too young to comfort her when her father died. I was in my late teens when her mother passed, and I sat up with her in our dark living room in Pittsburgh as she grieved and shed inconsolable tears. I remember the feeling of utter helplessness, knowing there was nothing I could say to make the pain fade. This time she was calm and collected but filled with sadness at the loss of a second father who loved her so well and she him in return. As a daughter nearing her forties, what I could do was buy her airfare home - something she could not do for herself when my grandmother passed, ever so unexpectedly, because every dollar was...Read More

Budding in a new community

Wed, 10 May 2017 08:43:36 -0700

It's hard to believe that it's already been almost a whole school year since I've made my transition from #sisrocks to #knightsROK. What an incredible year and journey it has been! Sometimes when you leave a place so dear to your heart, thinking it possible to fall in love again with a new community comes with some skepticism and worry. How fortunate am I that I have found yet another place where there is love, support, dedication to learning and continual growth? Ten-fold fortunate indeed as new connections are made and the relationships in full bloom!
The busy-ness has been the excuse for my limited writing, but it's been a productive busy year. I'd love to share with you the voices of our teachers at #knightsROK (GSIS Knights in the Republic of Korea ;)) through our new initiative of A Tale of #KnightsROK and the way we celebrate each other and promote learning within our very own community through innovative ways. Check us out, and engage with us; we'd love to hear from you!
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Thieving for Good

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 05:31:37 -0800

Thank you for letting me steal from you.
I have come to learn that Life is beautiful once you surround yourself with those who will empower you. I have come to believe that by lifting each other up, every person being lifted gets stronger, better, magnificent.
I had written a blog post two years ago about my experience of applying for the ADE Class of 2015. I look back on that golden moment and think how I meant every word, how when I read my own past I smile with so much pride at the amazing friends who support me to this very day, and I have no doubt, forever going forward. I absolutely have amazing friends, and I am grateful for all that they have taught me.
This year, in a new administrative role, my world is experiencing changes, both in physical space and mind, and I am learning all over again what it feels like to settle into a new place, what it takes to make it a home. With busy-ness as the scapegoat, I have even stopped sharing my writing for the past year: I had to close out one chapter, set up for a new one, and then learn how to live out that new story.
But tonight, as I sit with still a million other things I must do in preparation for a Monday morning, I tell Busy-ness to shush and write, inspired yet again over the reflection of my ADE application process deux, tugged by Nostalgia who reminds me to thank those from whom I've learned.
Two minutes of video couldn't capture that gratitude.
John, thank you for teaching me the power of a school hashtag. Thank you for empowering me to hack a system if it's worth revamping. Shaun, thank you for making my classroom burst with laughter with the idea of #5mins4fun...Read More

a poem for everyone

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 08:00:00 -0800

I started a Forensics elective at SIS in 2012, seeing the need for kids to explore their lives, find their voice, and experience confidence in both presentations and simply the day-to-day interactions with others. I have to say that as SIS shifts its focus to STEAM education next year, I am sad to see this elective come to a close as I leave the school to move onto a new country and school.
There have been incredible original pieces created by students in these years of Forensics, and this one I simply had to share. Even as adults, I believe that we can empathize with this feeling that Lisa, a sophomore, articulates in her poem. I am absolutely proud, of course, of my students for using the language techniques that they learned in the class, whether it be anaphora, metaphor, simile, imagery, epistrophe, anadiplosis, chiasmus… you name it, and they rocked it. However, I am forever touched by the power of my students’ words and their ability to reach deep down inside themselves to explore Life.
As a teacher, I followed up with Lisa to ensure that she was all right. That she was expressing in words what we sometimes feel, but that she wasn’t on the verge of being a danger to herself. But she shared with me that these feelings are feelings that we all can identify with, and as she struggles to be the empowering friend that she can be to her particular friend who is especially struggling these days, she wanted me to know: “Ms. Cho, I’m okay. She will be, but I just needed everyone to know that we’re not alone when we feel this way.”
Beautiful.
Here is her introduction and poem, and I hope you’ll leave a comment to empower her just the same… and by default, her struggling friend.
~*~*~*~
Introduction:

Have you ever used the phrase ‘I’m so depressed’? Have you ever had...Read More

Fighting Senioritis: Risk #2.

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 08:00:00 -0800

Two years ago, I did this project with my seniors. I wrote about it here, first as my COETAIL project. The result, the amazing engagement that my senioritis-stricken kids showed, was incredible.
I took a rest from it last year for various reasons, but this year, I've rolled it out to my current seniors in HL English again. They were receptive, seemed excited, and I am hoping that they'll share something meaningful this time around, too, even better than the first time around.
It's always daunting, projects like this. I was honest with my kids: "As a final project, as a school that doesn't 'grade' you based on completion of homework or tests, I would not penalize you for not having this project. By the due date, you should have had more than sufficient opportunities to show me what your final mark should be. So, it's not the grade that should motivate you but the promise that you'll take away meaningful reflection, skills applicable in university, engagement with the world and a showcase of what you have learned as a thinker, writer, and individual."
Every single senior I taught two years ago turned his or hers in minus one. ONE. That's pretty awesome. I told that to my current seniors, and I am hoping that they'll find meaning in this assignment. I am hoping that they'll engage with me, of course, but truly with themeselves. Self-reflection isn't always easy to do, neither is caring for the world around them, but how important it is that we encourage this level of introspection and compassion.
Let's see what they do... fingers crossed!

If anyone is interested in doing this project with your students, please feel...Read More

Language and Identity: Beautifully Insightful Reflections from Seniors

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 08:00:00 -0800

In the IB English "Language in the Cultural Context" part of our syllabus, the HL students were asked to simply observe their surroundings and reflect on how language impacted their identity over the Mid-Autumn Festival break in October. I simply wanted the students to keep up with writing practice, not expecting anything grandiose or complex. "Just write," I said, "of what you notice; be cognizant of what makes you you as you spend time with your family, friends."
When they came back, I didn't even require them to turn these in. But they wanted to... and these are what came in. Thank goodness they wanted to share these with me, because I am sure that I am a better person for having read these.
Take a read. These are the voices of eight very unique 17-year-old seniors, international TCKs.

#ilovemystudents

Living in a international and culturally tolerant community has prompted me to expel the use of derogatory language from my vocabulary, for the sake of political correctness and to develop an identity through language that I am proud of. The language an individual uses can say a lot about them: their awareness of the connotations certain words hold and whether this will affect them enough to reform their diction. When I was in the sixth grade, I developed the habit of using the word ‘gay’ as a synonym for anything unappealing. At the time, my twelve-year-old self was more excited about the new addition to my adolescent jargon than about the true connotations of the word. From then on, the word ‘gay’ and its equally offensive counter-parts, such as ‘retard’ and ‘faggot’,...Read More

My Past Posts

Fri, 09 Oct 2015 09:00:00 -0700

I'd like to start using this space for my writing from now on, everything in one place as much as possible!
For my past posts, please visit the following:
Forever Young
Ms Cho's Echoes
From this point forward, come back and see me here. Thanks!
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