Yuma native to teach in Cambodia

Many students dream of snagging a high-paying job right after college. But not Yuma native Adam Flynn.
 
Instead, Flynn is joining the call to public service even if it seems old fashioned. That's why he's equipped with his brown leather journal, laptop and U.S. passport and is set to travel to Cambodia to teach English for a year.
 
The 21-year-old, who graduated from Princeton last month with a bachelor's degree in history and played football there for four years, will teach English as a second language at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia as part of a fellowship program sponsored by Princeton-in-Asia.
 
"I'm really happy to be going because it's like an amazing combination of travel experience that can broaden your mind. It's work where you can help people and really make an impact," Flynn said. "And it's fun because I'm going to be living in a completely foreign culture for a year."
 
He said he realizes that Cambodia is a very young country and it has problems with a division between the rich and the poor. But for him, teaching English in Cambodia will make him happy that he can make a difference.
 
"You will have a lot of people who want to learn, and for them learning English will significantly better their lives because they have the tourism and they have the businesses. There if you know a scrap of English you have a step up on so many other people," he said.
 
Another goal of his is to leave a positive impression of America for the people of Cambodia.
 
"I'm going to be sort of this big, walking, hard-to-miss representative of America," said Flynn who is blond, blue-eyed and is 6 feet 6 inches tall.
 
There he hopes to learn more about himself and says the only way to do it is to take a step right out of your comfort zone.
 
"When traveling you place yourself in all these sort of strange situations, you learn things about yourself that you wouldn't normally learn otherwise. If you sort of spend your time entirely in your comfort zone, then it's hard to grow."
 
At first Flynn was nervous that he wouldn't make the cut for the Princeton-in-Asia program because he noticed that many other applicants had very strong background compared to him. But he believes that it was his versatility and resilience that got Flynn chosen.
 
"One thing I learned that in a lot of situations, it's always a plus to be a sort of a good-humoured, adventurous and friendly."


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Stephanie Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@yumasun.com or 539-6847.