A Year of Family, Faith & Unexpected Adventures

By Rebecca Emrich, High School Science Teacher

What would you do if you had a year off of work or school? This is one of the main questions I pondered as I walked the Camino de Santiago in the summer of 2022.

During the 800 km journey from the south of France to the city of Santiago in Spain, I prayed about the urge I had to take a leave of absence. After teaching at SFS for 12 years, I was growing weary and in need of fresh focus. Initially, I had come to SFS intending to work for two school years (2010 - 2012) and then return to America, but once I arrived, it was too great of a school to leave and all of a sudden I had just finished my 12th year. In the time I was here, my parents aged and my nieces and nephews grew up and I had missed much of it. During my time as a pilgrim, I decided to ask for a year off and to focus on the following goals:

• Be with each of my nieces and nephews on their birthdays

• Take my parents on a trip

• Become a certified running coach

• Attend cooking classes

• Bike the Southern Tier - a bike trail across the southern part of the US

• Do intentional service

With that list in hand I asked for and was approved to take a planned leave of absence for the 2023/2024 school year.

Almost immediately my plans were thrown off when my father needed hip replacement surgery in early August. I was drafted into chauffeur service for the 6 weeks of recovery taking him to and from daily mass, breakfast with his cronies, physical therapy and doctors appointments. As I imagine many parents can attest to, there is a special connection that forms when driving loved ones from place to place. My relationship with my father became stronger than ever as we learned more about each other as adults in the world.

The second major change I encountered was the planned pilgrimage to Israel with my mother for January of 2024. When the war started, the trip was reorganized to Italy in April. The change in time for the trip meant aborting my plans to ride a bike across the country in Spring 2024. The bike trip was replaced with a dedication to running and during the school year I ran 6 races, including a half marathon. Sadly, the trip to Italy wasn’t meant to be as my mother was diagnosed with COVID-19 the day before we were scheduled to fly out. She was the sickest I had ever seen her and I was grateful to be there to help care for her and my father as we recovered as a family. There were several Italian inspired meals around the pool as the three of us recovered and lamented the second canceled trip. Ultimately, this goal was achieved when we drove from Florida to New York for my father’s 60th high school reunion at the end of the summer of 2024.

Throughout the year, I was able to spend birthdays with each niece and nephew and to do much more. I participated in such activities as gymnastics practice, driving lessons, a 10 mile hike, quinceanera dress shopping, and homecoming pictures. During this time, one of my siblings started chemotherapy and I was there to help watch the baby, cook meals, fold clothes and do whatever else needed to be done so they could focus on her health and recovery. I was able to experience the thrilling and the mundane with my family which was priceless to me.

In between my travels to see my college roommates, family, and friends all over the US, I did indeed become a certified running coach and completed a week-long course at the Napa Valley campus of the Culinary Institute of America. I also took 20 credit hours of university courses, fell in love for the first time, became trained to volunteer along the Camino de Santiago, reconnected with my oldest childhood friend, acted as my godson’s confirmation sponsor, met with two SFS alumni, saw 9 major Broadway productions and volunteered at my former summer camp.

When I returned to Seoul in August of 2024, people wanted to know how the year had gone. It was hard to describe in a sentence, especially when I just returned. Having now settled into the school year, I can say that my leave of absence was meaningful. Thankfully it wasn’t just what I had planned but rather, I was where God wanted me to be.