Promoting Cross-Cultural Understanding Through Education Abroad
Earliest Experience Abroad
In 2008 I travelled throughout Tuscany with my high school orchestra playing in churches, performing with a Dutch youth orchestra, and hiking the Cinque Terre. After this short summer trip I knew I wanted to get back abroad while in college.
My Experiences Living, Studying and Working Abroad
More About Me
I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Puget Sound, a private liberal arts college quietly tucked away in Tacoma, Washington. UPS, a university that boasts a student body known for engaging the world around them, gave me an incredible opportunity to study abroad. As a Junior I spent a semester abroad through the ILACA Granada program in Granada, Spain. It was there that my foreign language skills truly flowered.
Fully immersed in the day-to-day life of a student in Spain, I grew to love the Spanish language, culture and history. Besides firmly developing my language and communication skills, my study abroad experience taught me to be tolerant of different peoples and cultures. Upon my return to the United States I know I wanted more. My time abroad also greatly impacted my academics at UPS: before my study abroad I was only a declared History major; however, after my return I had the credits and the conviction to declare Spanish as my second major, a decision I will never regret.
All this has led me to where I am today, a graduate of the International Education Management program at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey and working as an Education Abroad Advisor at PCC. My experiences throughout High School, undergrad and graduate school, and abroad in Spain have given me a truly global perspective. Yet I still desire to meet new people, try new things and learn more; something I know I will be able to achieve in the field of International Education.
After graduating from UPS in 2012, still hungry for international experience I applied and was accepted into the Cultural Ambassadors program in Spain. Through this teach-abroad organization run by the Spanish Ministry of Education, I was able to spend three years living, teaching English and improving my own language proficiency in Spain.
Although my study abroad experience had been formative, I sought more independence living abroad. Teaching abroad taught me many things: I became more aware of my own cultural background, I gained invaluable leadership experience, I witnessed firsthand an education system quite different from my own, and most importantly I learned the importance of providing students a global perspective. A willingness to engage others and appreciate diversity is not something that everyone has the opportunity to learn, and I helped provide that to the students I taught and they most definitely helped me it as well.
Born and raised Corvallis, Oregon. I attended Corvallis High School; a wonderful public school dedicated to educating global citizens. Beyond my academic studies I was also fortunate enough to play in both the high school orchestra as well as the local youth symphony as a violinist. One of my earliest cross-border educational experiences was an amazing orchestra tour in Tuscany, Italy. While abroad we visited major Italian cities such as Milan, Florence and Sienna, immersing us in everything from Italian geography and history, to cultural differences and customs. Furthermore, we had the amazing opportunity to play in medieval churches around the area, culminating in our performance of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence IN Florence! I can clearly point to this trip as one for the roots of my international awareness, wanderlust and desire to learn more about the world.
