It's a small world after all, or is it?
In 2004, I traveled abroad for the first time in my life. While blessed to have seen much of the country of my birth prior to that, not until age 19 did I experience life in another land.
The travel bug bit me hard. One could say I was infected then and there. Immediately, I perceived immeasurable value--educationally, spiritually, personally--that international travel experience provides.
At age 24, I quit my job in Atlanta and lucked into a job teaching English at a college-prep public high school in rural Czech Republic and committed to traveling as much as I could in the time I was there. I think if I weren't betrothed that I might still be country-hopping, teaching a few years here then a few years there.
Upon my return to the United States, I successfully regained employment as a teacher and spent the next several years flip-flopping between South Carolina and Atlanta, as my husband struggled to establish himself in his chosen profession. In the meantime, I managed to get an M.Ed.
Now that we have settled permanently--or at least for the foreseeable future--in Columbia, SC--and I have begun a PhD in Teaching & Learning, I aim to synthesize my belief that international travel experience is among the best education a person can have with my professional goals. I want to become a leader in global education within my community through a variety of methods--as a teacher advocate for student travel, as a resource for colleagues, as an academic, as a TGC fellow, and so forth. My goal with global education transcends my personal desire to see the world; today, I want to advocate for others--especially those from underserved environments--to broaden their horizons.
To contextualize my upcoming trip to Senegal as part of the TGC fellowship, I thought it my be nice to frame where I am going with where I have been, so below is a ThingLink map of precisely that. More on Senegal later. Enjoy.