Photo By Tech. Sgt. Joseph Park | Erika Park, an Air Force spouse, smiles at one of her students in China as she teaches...... read more read more
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At 3:30 a.m. the alarm on Erika Park’s phone starts blaring. As her husband, Tech. Sgt. Joseph Park, sleeps soundly beside her, she gets up and starts her day. After making coffee and putting on her makeup, she’s ready to go to her home office and work in her PCS-proof job, teaching English to Chinese students online.
After six years, teaching is second nature to her. She originally got into teaching after her oldest child was having trouble in elementary school.
“Christopher was falling behind on reading, and there was a bullying issue that was not being dealt with as well,” said Erika. “After weighing our options, we decided to pull him out of public school and begin homeschooling.”
Several years later, she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
After teaching for four hours on-line, she takes a short nap while her boys get some of their reading and language arts work done. After her nap, she checks over their work and helps them make any corrections before they move on to subjects they need more help with.
According to Erika, homeschooling gives her family opportunities that wouldn’t be available to them if they were attending public school.
One of the most notable opportunities is the chance to pursue some activities in the middle of the day. From gymnastics to music lessons to horseback riding, it’s important to Erika that her boys have the opportunity to explore who they are and who they want to be.
Homeschooling also protects her family from some of the disruptions of military moves and more recently, from some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Erika, being a military spouse isn’t easy. The hardest parts have been when her husband, Joseph, was deployed or serving on a remote tour. Out of his 13 years of service, he’s been away for more than four years.
“Having a deployed spouse is like being a single parent,” Erika said. “Even with letters, e-mails, and phone or video calls for support, the day-to-day work of raising and educating our family fell on me.”
Through it all, Erika said one thing stands out.
“The biggest lesson I learned was to take time to care for myself too,” she said.
Through everything, Erika wouldn’t choose any other life.
“Being in the military is to be part of a unique community,” Erika said. “There are challenges, but they are ones that other military spouses understand.
“We all go above and beyond to support each other,” she continued. “And joining the Air Force was definitely one of the best decisions our family ever made.”
| Date Taken: | 07.27.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2020 09:43 |
| Story ID: | 379507 |
| Location: | MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, MT, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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