Elizabeth (Libby) Williamson tried to retire from her job as an elementary school teacher after 36 years in rural and suburban South Carolina. For a few months, anyway. Then, through a stroke of luck, curiosity, and a whole lot of courage, she decided life had other plans for her. She wasn’t done yet. In. Ep. 11, hear how Ms. Libby:
To view the news story on Ms. Libby from her time in Thailand during COVID, which became part of a larger movement to vaccine Americans abroad, check it out here.
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Elizabeth (Libby) Williamson tried to retire from her job as an elementary school teacher after 36 years in rural and suburban South Carolina. For a few months, anyway. Then, through a stroke of luck, curiosity, and a whole lot of courage, she decided life had other plans for her. She wasn’t done yet. In. Ep. 11, hear how Ms. Libby:
To view the news story on Ms. Libby from her time in Thailand during COVID, which became part of a larger movement to vaccine Americans abroad, check it out here.
***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:
*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)
Audio
Ms. Libby Williamson: All these little cogs start working in your brain and you start thinking, I can do this. I really can do this.
Life Leaps Podcast: [00:00:00] Welcome to Life Leaps Podcast. Hear inspiring stories of ordinary people who made extraordinary life changes. What drove them, what almost held them back. Insights for the rest of us considering life leaps big or small, because hearing someone else do it reminds us that we can too.
Happy Wednesday, everyone. Today we're with Elizabeth Libby Williamson, who tried to retire from her job as an elementary school teacher after 36 years in rural and suburban South Carolina for a hot minute. Anyway, then through a stroke of luck. Curiosity and a whole lot of courage. She decided life had other plans for her. She wasn't done yet.
Today, we'll hear how miss Libby
decided to take the leap to Thailand in her sixties twice. [00:01:00] Is that survivor in more ways than one. Became part of an international movement to vaccinate Americans living abroad during COVID. and reminds us that growth change and taking chances can and must continue no matter your age.
She also reminds us that sometimes we have to step back, breathe, and remember that there are different seasons for everyth.
Ms. Libby Williamson: My parents were immigrants,but I was born in a leap that my parents took from the regular work world into a ministry and they went to become missionaries in India. So I went to India when I was one and a half. Wow. And then we came home and all of a sudden from being in a foreign land, I was now in the United States and had to change over as a child.
And I then became a preacher's kid or a pastor's kid. how long did you live in India with your,
with your, for [00:02:00] nine years. So I started in the third grade in the United States.
my high school years were spent in the Philadelphia area,And, when I started my first year of college and I was going to be a lawyer, my dad moved to South Carolina to take a church and he didn't take a church in a city.
Ms. Libby Williamson: He took a church in a small rural town called King Street, South Carolina. and I remember. Coming down and my sister asked my dad, do people live in those houses? And dad said, no, that's a tobacco barn . But we were just like in culture shock because all of a sudden we were in a small town.
And if you wanted to get from the country part of outside of town, you had to plan your day. Cuz daddy didn't wanna waste gas . So we had to plan our day to come into town and we had to have a very valid. [00:03:00] and, my sister and I were very good at thinking up, very valid reasons for coming into town. , I bet you were
and then I attended Francis Marion College and in the process of doing that, I was a history major, a political science major. my dad assigned me to be, to set up like a children's church. the Sunday school for preschool. And it was like a bug bit me. being with those four year olds. Was like a joyous occasion, creating things with them. making applesauce out of apples it was just as fascinating for me to watch the children as it was for me to be the teacher.
Ms. Libby Williamson: And,going to work was really, it was one of the joys of my day. And so gradually, I remember a professor told me, he said, if you're gonna be a lawyer, you're going to have to really fight your way as a [00:04:00] woman. And, it was discouraging because that was back in the seventies and there was still a very powerful woman's movement.
and part of me wanted to go and do it, and then part of me said, got bit by the education bug being a teacher, so I went into the early childhood program and loved it.
I married, . My, I married a guy from Francis Marion, but we divorced and then I married, Michael Williamson, my second husband. And we, lived on a farm just outside of town. I ended up having four girls through this marriage, and one of whom, you know, Riley and, my four daughters, grew up in a very rural life where you, I was just, I was a teacher, but I was also a farmer's wife.
Ms. Libby Williamson: and, had to make lunch before I left the house so that he would have it to come into, then come back and make a dinner, a supper at night. So really got into it. Did the [00:05:00] gardening and all of that. And you're teaching full-time? Yeah. So it was like a, it's like going to two jobs and then sometimes I would help with the grain business as well.
And, then their father passed away and that was just like a shock because, you just don't think that will happen to you. my oldest daughter was 13. Margaret was around nine. Riley was just two years behind her. And then Anna was just coming out of kindergarten. and I made the decision with the rest of my family that we would take a big leap into, um, down to Somerville. this is still Somerville, South Carolina.
South Somerville, South Carolina, to meet up there with my brother.
Life Leaps Podcast: And my mother moved with me and, I got a job in Dorchester County District two and taught for 19 years in Dorchester District two. a local public school. one of [00:06:00] my most cherished places that I taught. . but anyway, I did the 19 years. By that time I had done 36 years within the system. Wow. 36 years in you decide, I've been a full-time teacher, I've raised four girls.
I decided to retire and I thought, oh, I'll just go visit Anna in Los Angeles. One of your daughters yeah. One of my daughters. I'll do a few trips here and there. I'll,you know, I'll have the easy life. I'll substitute every now and then.
Ms. Libby Williamson: And then I thought, this is boring . And when I would substitute, I would hunger to be a part of that classroom and to build those relationships with children, because that's really what teaching is about. It's about building and establishing those connections and those relationships. . which is why teachers [00:07:00] cry at the end of the year and still think those children are their children for the rest of their lives.
how long were you living the quote unquote easy life before you decided
Life Leaps Podcast: It wasn't so easy. It was boring about
Ms. Libby Williamson: six months in. Okay. And then I said, this is not for me. And, I was talking with my oldest sister, who is also an educator, and she said,what do you, what would you wanna do? And I was asking her for, what could I do? What could I do? And I said, I've always wanted to travel.
somehow I got. because I see a lot of things from teachers.
I got something called teaching, um, teaching abroad a little thing from, international teachers And so , I signed up with a group called Teaching International Education, they had opportunities in Europe and I thought, oh, I'm English speaking, they'll call me and in my mind's eye I was going to Europe to teach abroad
Ms. Libby Williamson: [00:08:00] And I put in my resume or what they call a curricula Vik. Okay. And . And I just was like, okay, we'll see how this goes. . And next thing I know, nothing came from Europe . So I was like, okay, that's, no, I was waiting. And then all of a sudden I got a call from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
I got a call from Nicaragua, to interview a call from Malaysia and a call, a lot of calls from China and a call from Thailand, little old school in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And I interviewed with all of them. I did the interview, I did the interview with in China, and I was told that I would have someone walking around with me leading me into what I should teach.
And I told my sister, I can't do that. I'll be in an orange jumpsuit. And you'll be seeing me on the international news, .
Life Leaps Podcast: [00:09:00] Too much control over
Ms. Libby Williamson: you. Yeah. but the connection I had with the school in Chiang Mai was just like instantaneous. They fit my philosophy of education.
They understood that young children need to be taught developmentally. and that's one of the things that began missing from United States schools was we weren't teaching our youngest students in a developmentally appropriate way. And to me, that's a very vital part of what I teach, that children learn through play, children learn through the arts, and it's very important that we reach those parts of the child to reach the whole child.
and so I was very. They just made that connection with me. And everything I read about the school was like, wow, they're like a little village, a little community. And I interviewed with them first with the principal, and then interviewed with [00:10:00] a group of teachers. And, every one of them I just they hit those buttons and I was like, wow, Thailand really?
Life Leaps Podcast: Had you ever been to Thailand? I
Ms. Libby Williamson: had never been to Thailand.
And I I interviewed the second time and I thought, if they call me, I'll. I'll really consider it. And within three days I got a contract. Wow. And we would like to hire you as a kindergarten teacher in our early childhood center. And I was like, okay. And I had your father, Alan, look over my contract, , love it, to make sure everything was hitting the marks.
And he and Riley said, yeah, it's okay. And we, I went ahead and signed it, sent it back in, and then started getting ready for Visa. And in getting ready for the visa, I put what I call, I was taught about the [00:11:00] prophet Ezekiel and how he put out a fleece. And when he put out that fleece, he was just, he was seeing if God, that's what God wanted him to do.
And so I thought, okay, alright, God, I'm gonna challenge you. I'm gonna put out this fleece and let's see how I do with, I'll get the plane tickets. So I got the plane tickets. I sent off my Visa and I thought, I think what was daunting to me was they said the Royal Tie Embassy. And, I had never dealt with embassies.
And I also had to apply for my passport. And So you didn't have a passport at that point? I didn't have a passport, And I got all of those and I got them in record time. And I was like, okay, now I'm, I've signed the contract, I have my tickets, I have my passport, I have the visa.
Ms. Libby Williamson: I guess I'm going to Tyler hit. .
Life Leaps Podcast: Wow. I can't believe. So at that point, you had not only not [00:12:00] been to Thailand, but it sounds like you hadn't had the chance to really be traveling internationally at all at that point. You didn't have a passport. Had been to see my grandparents on their 50th wedding anniversary in Belfast, Northern Island during the, what we call the time of the troubles.
that was the last time. And how long ago had that been? And that was 1972. Wow. I traveled up to Boston.
Life Leaps Podcast: No, but still, I mean, look, this is, this is, that makes it all the more special and amazing. Yeah,
Like it's, was just, and people would look at me and say, Thailand, really?
Ms. Libby Williamson: You're going over there? And I'm like, yeah, I'm going over there. And I remember one of my assistant principals looked at me like, his name was Dan Farmer, and he said, are you sure you wanna do this? And I'm like, I'm doing it. It's going to be a challenge, but I'm gonna do it. What
Life Leaps Podcast: made you [00:13:00] decide, what made you go from the point of, oh, this is a little flyer I got in the mail about international teaching.
All right, I'll apply, I'll interview this Thailand thing. Seems cool. All right. God, I'm putting out the gold fleece, as You said Yeah. you were thinking at the time, what brought you from there to like, I'm doing this.
Ms. Libby Williamson: I think it was one, I needed the challenge, and it was the challenge of doing it.
It was the, there's a part of you that gets, you get nervous in your stomach, but there's a part of you. Your heart beats a little bit faster. All these little cogs start working in your brain and you start thinking, I can do this. I really can do this. I'm capable of doing this.
And you start to really build up in yourself that belief that, hey, I'm not just somebody's mom. I'm not just Mrs. Williamson, I'm not just a retired [00:14:00] teacher. I am going to go across the world. and there's a part of you that everything just starts to speed up and you're starting to think, what's it gonna be like, where am I gonna go?
Where am I gonna live? How am I gonna do it? And you start investigating and reading on the internet and you start looking up what living conditions, cost of living, what's it like in this country? what are the people like? And I think the thing that really hooked me with Thailand was it's known as the Land of a Thousand Smiles.
And I can guarantee you there is not a person in Thailand that doesn't smile at you. They may frown at you at sometimes, but majority of the time, they are the friendliest of people. I remember the first thing I landed in Hong Kong.
And you come from the United States and people don't really respect, have a great deal of respect for the profession of [00:15:00] teaching and educating. And landed in Hong Kong and there was this Chinese man with a little two year old and she was fussy and I kept doing little finger plays with her and he was like fascinated.
And he goes, are you a teacher? And I'm like, yeah, , I'm going to Thailand to teach. And it was like all of a sudden he looked at you in a totally different fashion. You were honored and it was like you were the right thing for his child. and you were, he just, he watched you with such reverence as to how you were teaching his child and educating his child.
And, and even if it was just a simple finger play, that's what he was just fascinated by what you were doing. And I thought, I've never had parents look at me like that. wow. Even his wife when she came up and she had got gone to get them something to eat, she was like [00:16:00] totally fascinated by what I was doing.
And the child, of course, was happy and everything because he was occupied, he was entertaining himself with me and he was involved. and, I thought, okay, I can do this. That was my first experience teaching in Asia . And this is the
Life Leaps Podcast: airport, right?
Ms. Libby Williamson: And it's the airport in Hong Kong. Your layover?
International Airport . I thought I can do this.
So I got on the flight to Cheang Mai, and it's, once you get into international teaching, it's like a whirlwind because you're really landing within a one to two week period of when you're gonna start teaching. And I went through the orientation, I met my assistants who were my right arms.
I had, for the first time in my life, I had 20 kids and two assistants in my class, . Wow. And they would just, [00:17:00] they were not only. My assistants in the classroom, but they taught me about Thai life. And, they will be lifelong friends. So I moved into a condo And I, for the first time, negotiated with a foreigner on the price of the condo. on how to set up my electricity, how to set up my wifi, how to set up, how to go to the grocery store, how to shop at markets.
are there moments,
Life Leaps Podcast: are there moments during all this when you're going. . Oh boy. What did I do, ? Was this a mistake or was it like all very navigable?
it wasn't it? I was, it was because I had those two ladies to help me. Got it. And they were like, that's why I say, when I say they were my right arms, they were my right arms.
Ms. Libby Williamson: Mar both Mar and Iam, that was their names. And they would look at me and see a little panicked look, come in my eyes when somebody would say, you have to do something. They would follow me in and interpret for me. [00:18:00] they were just, loads, loads of help.How was the first day? the first day. I think that's the only time I had like pins and needle. Not, I just, I was excited but I was just like nervous. Nervous. Like when you were a brand new teacher. Cuz I thought, how am I gonna talk to these parents? How am I gonna get them to understand? I had students that were European students that were English, but the majority of them were Thai in Chinese.And when I couldn't say it in English, my assistants would interpret it for me to the Thai parents. I found a way that we used in the United States called ClassDojo, and sure enough, ClassDojo translated to Thai, it translated to Chinese , and so I could communicate with him that way.
Life Leaps Podcast: Is that like a language translation app?
it's a communication half that we use with parents that we tell them, if the child has had a good day or if they've had a difficulty. [00:19:00] We also can take pictures and send how their day is going. one of my students that I taught last year his name was Rodan. And I would say, look at how Rodan is doing the puzzles. Look at how he's building his castle, look at how he's built these tunnels to study motion.
Ms. Libby Williamson: And the tie in Chinese parents were not used to that. And they absolutely thrilled at the fact. And that's what built the relationships with the parents.
Life Leaps Podcast: So technology to the rescue here?
yes. Wow.
Life Leaps Podcast: Ms. Levy, what was your biggest fear? If you had one going over there, that I wouldn't be able to,
establish relationships with parents and children, and to have success in a school system, you have to have those relationships. You have to have those connections. And I was also afraid because so much of. In Asia, and I'm not trying to be,[00:20:00] I'm not trying to put it to one particular ethnicity or anything, but so much of it is saving face.
Ms. Libby Williamson: And so if you have a child who's having difficulty, you don't want to upset that parent so that they think, oh, my child has done something wrong. And I'm ashamed. And you don't wanna do that in any school system, but particularly I noticed it with, my parents, in Asian communities, I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to talk to them. I was so scared that, they wouldn't understand me. and but what I found was that humor and laughing at yourself I remember one time, I said to the students, I'm going to catch a plane. And they said, catch a plane. You're gonna put it in your hand. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I am going to get on the airplane and I ha But you could laugh at yourself and they would laugh with you. The moment you started laughing at yourself, they would laugh with [00:21:00] you.
And it was like, gave them permission. Yes. And it was like they realized that you're just as human as they are and it was because I was always laughing at the mistakes I would make and, that's part of our humanity. We need to learn to laugh at our mistakes. But the fear was that I would never be able to communicate. And, I just thought, they're gonna send me packing after a year, .
Life Leaps Podcast: But they didn't. In fact, they didn't. No. You had an extraordinary time there and built Oh yes. Amazing relationships.
Yes.
I was there for almost one year, and then in February I found the lumps in my chest and I was like, oh. And I realized I, the Thai doctors diagnosed it. It was metastatic breast cancer and I had to come home, because I could not go through breast cancer in Thailand without being around my family.
I strongly [00:22:00] believe that family is support no matter where you are in the world. And, I just knew I needed that to get through this, that part of the journey. So my life changed again overnight. And I took another leap. And this was in the leap of the unknown.
Ms. Libby Williamson: So
everyone, when they hear the big C word cancer, It's like somebody robbed you and you're literally absolutely stunned. And you go through a real denial process. No, this can't be happening. no. And then you realize, especially when you have to explain it to your family what's happening, it becomes very real.
But still, when I was over in Thailand knowing that I had to come back, there's still that perception that's there. And I'm okay here. And I remember, my last day in Thailand was right before we take a big vacation, it's called Song Crown. And there's [00:23:00] a very joyous holiday in Thailand. It's one where they let the water spray all over people and you run around and get spray guns and do all sorts of joyful things.
And I remember that last day, there was just the most joyous day I had, and I thought, when that day ended, I thought, I'm going home to face the music . but behind the scenes my daughters had worked wonders. Because I had emailed my doctor and then both my daughters, that were in South Carolina, emailed her too.
And she, Dr. Brownfield, who is my primary care, got on the line and got into Hollings Cancer Center, which is in, at M U S C, in, Charles in Charleston, South Carolina. And, lined up the doctors I needed to be with. And, so I literally landed [00:24:00] April the 12th. Met the doctors and was in the doctor's office by the 14th of April.
Wow. And what year is this? 2018. And so I came over and, not knowing was gonna happen and there's still that denial phase. And I remember, sitting down with the doctors and you come in and because you're in denial, you will say things when you're in a rough situation, a lot of times you'll make it humorous to handle it.
And, I would just look at them and make a joke out of it and and laugh at it and everything like that. Until I met Dr. Bresha, who was my oncologist. and he was just like . this is black and this is white. you can have the surgery and get rid of the cancer or you can not, now you wanna get back to Thailand, here's our plan.
Wow. And it was just very straightforward to me. [00:25:00] And I was like, for the first time I was the student now and I was having somebody tell me what to do. And, it was like, whoa, . And, so I had a bilateral mastectomy,did 12 weeks of chemotherapy.
I did 12 weeks of radiation and this is now 2019. I had just finished up my radiation and getting back in the swing of things. I got hired by a little church preschool, started teaching four year olds in that little church preschool in Knightsville, South Carolina, which is just a little suburb of Somerville.
And, happy-go-lucky going around thinking, okay, I've got the world and I'll level playing field. I'm good. And all of a sudden I got an email from this same principal of the school that I had just left in 2018 and he said, we are wondering if you can come [00:26:00] back. And I was Thailand just shocked.
Because never in my wildest dreams had I thought that would happen. and all of a sudden I was like, should I? And so again, I asked my sister , my oldest sister Mary, I said, what should I do? And she said, what do you think you should do? And I said, well, I guess I better check with the doctors first.
So I talked to Dr. Brs and he again said to me, very frankly, he said, life is for living. Go and live your life. If you wanna go to Thailand, go back to Thailand and enjoy it. this was now October, 2019, and so I had to go back through the Visa process again
You were a little
Life Leaps Podcast: more seasoned this time, .
Ms. Libby Williamson: I was, but in the excitement of it, I sent off the Visa application but forgot to send the money. Okay. To pay for the [00:27:00] Visa and then I had to call the Royal Embassy to say, just hold my visa. I'm sending the money. Overnighting it to you. ,
Life Leaps Podcast: you were so excited.
Ms. Libby Williamson: You just, I'm so excited about it.
That got through and then she told me, this might be about four weeks and I'm like, four weeks, we're coming into the end of November, almost into December. I wanna get this over with. And we were on the last day of the four weeks, and I thought it stopped coming.
darn if it didn't show up in the mail the next day. Ah, and there was my visa to Thailand. My tickets were bought. Iand I thought, I'm really doing this again. how long
Life Leaps Podcast: had you been home at this point?
Ms. Libby Williamson: I had been home for a full year. Wow. So we're coming to the end of 2019 and going into 2020, just getting ready to start. And my flight was to take off January the fourth from Boston. And I flew out of [00:28:00] Boston on a cold, windy day , and this is
Life Leaps Podcast: January 4th, 2020.
Ms. Libby Williamson: January 4th, 2020. Oh boy. and landed in 75 degree heat, in Cheang Mai, Thailand.
had to put away a few winter clothes and just basically I'm like back in the land of what I call smiles and green, because that's all I can remember about Thailand is this very bright green, vivid colors. And I'm like, I'm back.
Ms. Libby Williamson: And I had a week to start in, but this time it changed because now I was teaching three year olds.
I had taught five, I had taught fours. oh, now I'm doing threes, and that's even younger . And I thought, oh, how can I do this? And it was a challenge to think of things. that's the thing about young children is that if you are really into teaching it, they're really ready to listen [00:29:00] to you.
And yes, you have to pull every trick out of your little bag. It might be finger puppets, it might be putting on a silly hat. It might be using silly strange voices. It might be singing the goofiest of songs. But if you do it, their eyes light up. And what I found was when I was teaching this time was music and art.
Grab these little three-year-olds, like nothing I have ever seen. . And so we did music, we did, we sang songs.
We practiced greeting each other, singing those songs. We, did finger plays. We, read books and they would listen avidly and, it was great. And then all of a sudden, February, 2020 , we had the Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year.
And after we [00:30:00] had celebrated it that weekend. We were told when we went back, if you have any students that came, have relatives that came from Hunan, China, let us know they're going to have to be quarantined. And we were like, what? What's going on? And that's when we started to learn about Covid. And what happened in Thailand was they closed the borders. So you couldn't, if you were Chinese, you couldn't get back to China.
But if you were European or American, you couldn't get back to your country either. and we had to do online teaching. And it was online teaching on the spur because how do you teach three year olds online? I do not know. I became the actor in front of these little three year olds that were watching you online.
Life Leaps Podcast: You were their TV screen, you were their TV
Ms. Libby Williamson: actor, and you had to find, pull out [00:31:00] everything. You, I went and made finger puppets from Popsicle sticks and pom bombs. I remember.
ordering some from, it's the Asian type of Amazon called Lazada and ordering funny hats that I could press a button and the ears would go up and down and just doing all sorts of things. And also then you had parents want to see the work in progress, so you had to give them some type of work to do and we would do it.
And I would give them things like, make a vehicle and see how many teddy bears you could, or how many things you could float on your boat. And I remember I had one little boy he couldn't get back to his country. And he sent me the best videos of him flying these airplanes. And still, even in all that morass of Covid, there was joy to be found and there was laughter and [00:32:00] there was fun.
And we ended the year online.
And
Life Leaps Podcast: you were quarantined
Ms. Libby Williamson: at the time? Yeah. At some point we couldn't even leave our building. at
Life Leaps Podcast: one point, you mentioned the borders being closed Yes. To you as well in terms of leaving. Yes. At one point you were unable to get vaccinated, China had come up with a vaccine, but it didn't have the efficacy. that some of the vaccines in the United States had.
And you were of course, immunocompromised at this point
Ms. Libby Williamson: as well.
Yes. And I'm compromised because of my previous cancer. And so I just, I couldn't take that chance. we started an a, a writing campaign to senators, our legislators, um, whomever we could find. And it was started by my daughter Anna, and she decided that she was gonna get her mother home. and we, She wrote letters and she [00:33:00] not only wrote it, letters she wrote, she made cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, anybody she knew, get in touch with your legislator, send this letter.
She had a form that you could fill it out. and then at some point my one of my daughters decided that maybe we could get this on the broadcast news and it will spur some of our South Carolina legislators to do something.
And,and. I did the interview with Channel four News in Charleston.
Life Leaps Podcast: I remember seeing that interview
Ms. Libby Williamson: and I thought nothing of it. I remember getting the call from Anna at 11 o'clock at night tie night, not it was her morning, but getting the call from her and she said, what are you doing?
And I said, I'm in my pajamas. She said, put a nice top on cuz you're going to be interviewed in an hour, . And I was like, okay, . So I [00:34:00] completely redid my makeup, put on a top and had my pajama bottoms on a true Zoom video. , and was looking really good. was interviewed by one of the Channel four reporters and he asked me all sorts of questions and everything like that and That broadcast got sent to, a group of people that do politic, they're networking politicians in Asia called A S E A N, and it got into their newsletter and they picked up that this interview had been done, that I was in the interview and it was on the internet with a acn, the organization, that got sent to the Thai officials, which then sent it to the Thai Health Department.
Which then sent it to a group called Democrats Abroad. And Democrats abroad got in touch with me and said, miss [00:35:00] Libby, would you like to get a Pfizer vaccination? I was like, yeah, , where do I go? What do I do? And within a week's time, I was lined up
They got the vaccine from the American Embassy and we were, a bunch of us that were Americans were being vaccinated. And I was in the first set of groups in Chiang Mai to be vaccinated.
Life Leaps Podcast: So your story, the story of course was that you were just one example of so many Americans living abroad who either were unable to access local vaccines or, maybe had significant health issues and didn't wanna use their one shot at getting a vaccine at that time.
Yeah. that wouldn't have had the same efficacy. Yes. And so Americans at home, of course, were getting vaccines, but there was nobody making sure that American citizens who didn't have that same access were getting it abroad. Yes, it's abroad.
Yes. And so your story that was like, The experience of so many, but it [00:36:00] sounds like by getting you the vaccine and getting that on the radar, or even in that local spot in Cheng Mai, you opened the door to a lot of other people, a lot of other Americans living abroad who weren't then able to get vaccines as well.
Is that right? Yes. So you started a movement or became a big part
Ms. Libby Williamson: of one ? I became a big part of one. Oh, wow. Wow. I was very, let's put it this way, I was very proud that those of us that lived abroad could still push our government.
To do things for us, even though we weren't, we were abroad. In other words, we didn't lose our citizenship. and we needed as much representation into Washington and in anywhere in the world as people who are living in the United States of America.
And Wow. once that happened, then within another four to six months, I was able to get my second vaccine and planned to get my [00:37:00] booster. And then I was faced, this is now two and a half years into teaching now, so we're now up to 2022. And I went to go put in my, intent to teach for another couple years.
you go in front of the principal and the principal said, I'm really sorry, but as much as I want you to stay, because you're now leading the entire early childhood program, the entire government won't let anybody who's 65 or over be on a work permit. Wow. and is there, this is, that's like a shocker to,
Life Leaps Podcast: I'm trying to wrap my head around this. So you go to, this is 2022, you go to submit your intention to keep teaching? Yes. And the principal says, I want you, but my hands are tied. The government itself says that nobody aged 65 or over can [00:38:00] have a work.
A corner 65 or over can have a work permit.
Ms. Libby Williamson: Yes. Because they, because of covid, they were basically setting up regulations and laws that said, especially in the teaching profession. That we don't need older people. We don't need this to happen again, where people who are older or immunocompromised and older to be caught up in this, where we have to supply for them as well.
And it was basically for foreigners. And
Life Leaps Podcast: did it just apply to foreigners, miss Libby, or
Ms. Libby Williamson: was it foreigners on work permits? Yes. Got it. Okay. Okay, got it. Oh my gosh. I was like, what am I gonna do? and I, at first, I got, there's a part of you when someone says no to you, and you can't control it, You kind of do just like what a two year old does. You stomp your foot [00:39:00] and you say, this is just not fair. And you get angry and then all of a sudden you have to take a big deep breath back and say, okay, I have to go forward. I can't keep going back and I have to go forward.
And so I planned my tickets home, my daughter, Anna's wedding was coming up.
So I knew I was coming home for that. and gradually I became more and more able to say, I don't know what's going to be planned for me, but something good if I have been brought this far, something good is planned for me. And it may take a little while and I may have to sit and figure out where those areas are, but I haven't been let down yet.
there is, we can call him God, you can call him supreme creator, whatever. He has a plan and a purpose for me. And therefore I just have to sit back and be [00:40:00] patient. It will occur. And you have to go on that feeling of, yeah. Okay. I can wait. So you come home, you buy a house, which I did. And,you readjust to living in the United States after living two and a half years in a country that was so foreign to you that has now become less foreign to you.
Ms. Libby Williamson: you now readjust to a country that you grew up in that shouldn't be foreign to you, but you get readjusted to it to figure out how to drive again, how to go into a humongous grocery store with all these people surrounding you instead of a local market. All those things. And so that's basically since June 14th, that's what I've been doing of this year.
But, my teaching skills are still in use. I'm helping in a small preschool for a long-term substitution that just opened up unexpectedly. [00:41:00] and I'm just putting out those feelers to see. if it's, if not teaching in the classroom, if not being a part of that, then what? What do I do?
but instead of having the anxiety about it, just being ready to take the next part of my journey, the next leap to whatever's planned for me. You're still going, you're not done. Yeah. No, you're never done until you take your last breath.
Ms. Libby Williamson: I love it. You
Life Leaps Podcast: just, I'm like coming to tears, like at various points in this conversation. I have been reigning in my own emotional responses to just how beautifully and authentically and just all the things that you. Have lived and are now describing the way you've lived and your journey and what's left of your journey and yeah.
Which will be rich and amazing. And you're navigating and figuring out now, just like you did several years ago. Yeah,
Ms. Libby Williamson: and it's, [00:42:00] and what I'm learning is that, because that's another thing about life. Life is not just about different changes you take, but it's always about learning. And I'm 65, but I am still learning and always will be learning.
And sometimes it's learning even things about myself. Sometimes it's learning about other people. Sometimes it's learning about different ways to do things. But one of the things that I've realized is that it's okay to be quiet for a little while and to wait. . I'm not a very patient person when it comes to waiting for those visas and passports was just like, oh, it's not gonna happen.
It's not gonna happen. just taking it day by day and just, saying, okay, whatever the day brings, I'm ready for it. I can handle it. Is there any advice isthat you would give to folks? [00:43:00] Who are looking to make a life change is there anything else that you're dying to share
I think the biggest thing that I would tell people is if you get the chance, explore it. Because opportunities come to us through various different things and sometimes you may think, oh no, that's just not the opportunity for me. Sometimes you may think, oh, that's way too big for me. or no, that's too small for me.
Whatever that opportunity is. It may not be the right one. It's okay to drop something by the wayside. It's okay to say that's not for me, or that's my journey there has ended with that. I'm going on to something else. But whatever the opportunity is, explore it, take the chance. the other thing is that I would say is don't be impatient.
Breathe,
take a couple deep breaths, ,it will [00:44:00] happen because I never thought I would go back to Asia after being a little girl in India. That was the least of my dreams. I was going to go sit on a patio in Spain and I was going to, lively teach English.
Go and have my coffee live in the sunshine, and I got sunshine, but I got it in another place at Highland. I never thought that I would be teaching. I thought five year olds were, was it? That was the holy land. I have now taught threes, fours, and sometimes I have taught twos.
And it is just one of the most challenging things of my life and it's the best thing in the world. So never give up hope. Just breathe. the pathway will open. Doors may shut. Windows will open. . more on
Elizabeth miss Libby Williamson
Life Leaps Podcast: in the show notes for this episode.[00:45:00]
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Till next time.
next Wednesday on Life Leaps Podcast.
Shayla McGhee: As a millennial, you are always taught there are some big name jobs that you should pursue, And I remember just in my room, just like, I don't wanna do this. I don't even know if I'm cut out for it.
it's okay. It's okay to be myself. It's okay to not want to do this thing that everyone sees as so prestigious,
Life Leaps Podcast: Till next time.