Jelle Smets

Background

About Jelle Smets

I love meeting and supporting people from all over the world. The constant discoveries, big and small, of cultural differences and similarities are what make life interesting. My professional journey started as a teaching intern in Xianyang, Shaanxi, China. An opportunity I took as an applied linguistics student desperate to improve my Chinese and aim for an interpreting job. Little did I know that I would fall head over heels for education. Seeing a student’s eyes light up with understanding and pride, seeing something click, is pure magic. Once I returned from my internship, I finished my post-graduate in translation studies in English, Dutch and Chinese, got my TEFL-certificate (later upgraded to a CELTA), and flew back to China to start my career in education at ZBU in Gongyi, China, teaching and managing. Exploring the vastness of China, South-East Asia, Korea, Japan and so many more places, for 7 years, only fanned the flames and reaffirmed that this is what I love to do. The next leg of the adventure started with flying to Vancouver, Canada, where I started working, exploring and living life as an innovative instructor, first for two years at SSLC, now at VIC. At SSLC, when the opportunity came to teach and manage the Business English course, I quickly made it my own, revamped it and consequently re-branded it as Career English. Due to the overhaul of the program, I became the program's coordinator across all three SSLC campuses. Having accomplished all I could in the role, the next step presented itself at VIC to teach and manage the Global Business Expertise program. It was the logical next step for me since it made it possible to be more involved on a corporate level with regards to marketing, admin procedures, LMS, and an overall upgrade of instructional design and curriculum. In the past years my career and skill set has continuously developed as I kept finding myself in leadership positions. I got the opportunity to support my local union in an executive capacity as Treasurer. This rekindled the flames for bookkeeping and management, which I had forgotten about since my Economics major. I even got scouted by Nikki's Bookkeeping, where I am working part-time as bookkeeper. I still love education, however, balancing it with these different challenges keeps my mind active and sharp. The people around me continue to amaze me, teach me, and give me a reason to get up every morning. Knowing that many struggle with confidence, I want to keep reminding them that every expert, every master, was once a beginner.