By Dimitra Angelopoulos
Kaitlyn Burress has traveled the world during her time as a student and a teacher. How did she move from Kansas City to New York, with France a few times in between? I sat down with her to discuss her life, career and travels.
Kaitlyn Burress was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in a small town in the suburbs. She grew up with her parents and her younger brother until her family adopted a baby girl from China, making them a family of five. Her entire family was able to fly to China together to bring her sister home in July 2011. Kaitlyn had many passions and interests throughout school. When she was young, she enjoyed English, writing, and playing the piano. Once she reached high school, she discovered a love of the French language. “I originally took French because it was required, but it quickly became my favorite subject and I continued it all four years of high school,” Kaitlyn stated. She also enjoyed her art classes throughout school, especially photography. She graduated from high school in the spring of 2013.
Kaitlyn then went to the University of Missouri - Columbia as an undergrad. She majored in French Language and holds two minors in Photography and Art History. As a sophomore in college, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Paris, France for a semester. While attending La Sorbonne, she studied French language and culture as well as art history. When asked why she chose to study abroad in France, Kaitlyn said, “As a French major, I was highly encouraged to do a study abroad program in a French-speaking country. Since my first class in highschool, I had a dream of going to Paris. I decided studying there was the best way to improve my French and experience French culture.” Before she studied abroad, Kaitlyn had originally entered college as a Photography major. Studying abroad in Paris ended up being a turning point for her, and she returned to the United States and changed her major to French. During her semester abroad, she also became more independent and an adept traveler. She also felt that studying abroad made a huge impact on her level of French fluency and therefore the rest of her academic career.
After graduating from the University of Missouri, Kaitlyn was accepted into the TAPIF program. The “Teaching Assistant Program in France'' places native English speakers into French schools in order to help students in their English classes. In the fall of 2017, she flew back to France to live and teach in Amiens - a small city in northeastern France. Kaitlyn said, “Honestly, I had been looking for a way to get back to France ever since I had studied abroad. I looked at TAPIF as an opportunity to become a better teacher while living in France again. It ended up being one of the best years of my life - I taught hundreds of students every week and got to travel on the weekends.” She was able to travel to many new countries and made many life-long friends.
After finishing the TAPIF program, Kaitlyn was sure she wanted to pursue a career in education. After gaining many valuable skills and confidence in her teaching, she returned to the United States in May of 2018 and was hired as a French preschool teacher at a French Immersion school in Kansas City. She worked with 250 preschool children per week for two years. “It was my favorite job I’ve ever had,” Kaitlyn said. She also did promotional work for
the school and took pictures of various school events. In the fall of 2019, she began to consider returning to school to get her Masters. Since the TAPIF program that she had participated in offered scholarships at NYU, it seemed like the best option. In the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, she found out she had been accepted into NYU’s M.A. program at the Institute of French Studies. In August of 2020, she moved to New York and began attending classes. Although the M.A. program normally concludes with a summer semester in Paris, the program was kept in New York for the summer due to COVID-19 regulations. She graduated with her M.A. in French Studies the following July.
After finishing her Masters program, Kaitlyn decided to stay in New York and start her own private French tutoring business which she continues to this day. She still loves teaching and sees herself staying in the education field for the foreseeable future. She is also considering starting a new branch of her career in the study abroad industry. She stated, “I would love to inspire college students to study abroad like I did and help them through the process.” Working in study abroad would also allow Kaitlyn to blend some of her favorite things - education and travel.
After hearing about the trajectory of Kaitlyn’s life and travels, I asked her to compare the different places she has lived. When asked about the differences between Kansas City and New York, Kaitlyn mentioned mainly the difference in the pace of life. She explained how Kansas City is a good-sized city without feeling overcrowded or overwhelming. She went on to say that New York, while a more exciting city, is also a more stressful place to live. Lastly, I asked Kaitlyn how living in Paris compares to New York. She said that living in Paris definitely prepared her for living in New York, since she got experience living in an apartment and taking the métro to get around. She said, “You learn a lot about taking care of yourself and getting yourself around when you live in a big city like that.” Although she saw some similarities between Paris and New York, she said that Paris feels overall more historical and elegant. In conclusion, she said, “One of my favorite French songs, J’ai deux amours, says it best: “Manhattan is beautiful, but why deny it - what puts a spell on me is Paris.”