Going Out of Your Comfort Zone – Paul Crouch’s farewell

Going Out of Your Comfort Zone – Paul Crouch’s farewell Paul Crouch, Assistant Head, leaves Regents International School Pattaya in Thailand after 15 years. Paul is recognised in Thailand and internationally as one of the most innovative and passionate leaders of international education. His 15 years at Regents International School Pattaya have undoubtedly been a major factor in the school’s ethos of social responsibility and empowerment amongst our student body. Students at Regents are encouraged to believe that what they do and say can make a difference on a local, regional and global scale.

His ability to create meaningful and sustainable community partnerships, his success in encouraging students and others to actively engage with their community and his drive to empower students to confidently reach beyond their ‘comfort zone’ is one of a kind. Paul Crouch will be dearly missed by our students and alumni, our staff and community partners.

We have asked Paul Crouch to share with us what he believes makes Regents so special:

"Initially, I had only planned to come out to Thailand for two years, but instead it ended up being fifteen years and I will be leaving with a loving wife (10 years of marriage this year) and three children who mean the world to me.  Regents International School Pattaya has been such a huge and significant part of my life and I will always be grateful for the time I have had at the school and living and working in this amazing community.  I am glad that I have grabbed every opportunity and put my maximum effort, commitment and passion into everything I have aimed for and been asked to achieve. 

From teaching ICT to the whole Primary School, to being the Head of the Geography Department, to hosting International Round Square Conferences and now being an Assistant Principal, it has truly been a fantastic journey of self-discovery and professional learning. The phrase “going out of your comfort zone” seems to have become attributed to me at Regents (probably because I say it too much); but it is this physical, mental and emotional concept of trying something new and challenging yourself and learning from it, that makes a Regents’ truly holistic education so inspiring – as Kurt Hahn, the father of Round Square said: “there is more in you than you think”. 

Looking back on the last fifteen years, I suddenly realise the importance of that decision to leave the UK for Thailand – to go out into the unknown and to discover what education and life-long learning is really about and to grab it and make the most of it.

This time, as I try to walk the talk, and go out of my comfort zone for a second time, I am not doing it alone but with my family and three young children eager to learn about the world. I am excited for them, as much as for myself, to enter this new chapter, to go into the unknown once again and to seek out a whole new set of opportunities and learning experiences - anything can happen!  I leave Regents and Thailand as a much better teacher but I know I will come back as an even better one, because as we all know:  anyone that really understands the magic of Regents always comes back! "  

Paul Crouch