The other side of the scoreboard

At 21, I left my home in South Africa for a country on the opposite side of the world. All I had was the $500 in my pocket that my dad gave me and an aspiration to become an English teacher. No classroom experience. No idea what I was walking into.

It wasn’t long before I found out how unprepared I was. In my first observation I scored an 11 out of 20. I didn't need anyone to tell me that I still had a long way to go, the feedback that came with it spelled out exactly where I'd fallen short. I knew they were right.

I discovered Baamboozle at a training session, tucked into a slide about keeping students motivated. I tried the classic game, and my students were fully into the content on the screen. I started hearing "teacher, play game" more often in my classes.

When World Pup Soccer came out, I played it in class, and every single one of them loved it. Not just a few kids, the whole room. That reaction alone was enough to give Baamboozle Plus a try.

Before long, it became a go-to in my classes. But what kept me around wasn't just the games. It was realizing the people behind Baamboozle actually listen.

I started sending DMs on Instagram whenever I had an idea. I never expected much to come of it, but then I logged in one day and saw my own suggestion built right into the platform.

That's when their team told me I was one of their "besties." Being invited into that community, having actual input into a tool I use every week, was genuinely rewarding.

Somewhere along the way, Vietnam stopped being the place I moved to for a job and became home. I met my wife here, built a career here, and now I'm raising my daughter here too, a whole life I didn't expect when I landed with $500 and no plan.

That 21-year-old who scored an 11 out of 20 probably wouldn't believe where he'd end up.

These days, I've moved from full-time teaching into a manager role, running the same kind of observations that once scored me an 11, for over a hundred teachers each year. Baamboozle still comes up in our trainings, whether it's me bringing it up or one of my co-managers.

The classroom game that first got my students talking is still the tool I swear by for teachers today.

Stephan's story is part of #FacesOfBaamboozle