My first adventure off the North American continent was for an independent research project to Egypt on a Middle East Studies grant. Traveling independently, in the days before I had a cellphone or GPS, gave me a healthy dose of confidence! Since then, I've trekked across many countries, often in a rental car, seeking out the great unknown. I want to instill the same confidence and thirst for adventure in my students.

Most importantly, though, I want students to better understand themselves and the world around them. When the Greeks colonized Ionia, they met people having a far different culture from their own. This not only taught them about others, but also a great deal about what made them "Greek." Each time I travel, I learn as much about myself as I do those people I am visiting.

Students who study abroad make valuable connections, both to their classmates and to students abroad. They also have a greater chance of completing their course and program successfully. I'm always happy to share how students can make studying abroad a reality.

My first experience abroad was as part of a study abroad trip to Salamanca, Spain, where I experienced many firsts. That trip, in combination with a Spanish teaching degree that had global education built in, convinced me of the importance of a globalized curriculum and of global experiences. Since then, I have always strived to integrate global viewpoints into my classroom, encouraged my students to broaden their horizons with study abroad and global classes, and worked on campus to help develop a global mindset culture.

With a decade of experience in teaching mathematics, I am excited to combine my passion for numbers with a global perspective. Many students often struggle to connect with math or see its relevance in their everyday lives, but math is truly all around us – especially when we cross national borders. From politics and government to economics and architecture, math plays a crucial role in shaping the world.

This is why in my own courses, I focus on bridging math to real-world applications. Through hands-on projects, students explore the relevance of mathematics in their daily lives, gaining a deeper understanding of how math is applied in local and global contexts. I believe that, by exploring how different countries and cultures approach mathematical concepts, students can develop a greater appreciation for the universal language of math and its role in addressing real-world problems. I am excited to promote global learning opportunities that enhance both academic and cultural understanding.

As H.G. Wells once said, "Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write."

"The greatest experience you can have is to live from a global viewpoint. Traveling to other countries allows you to touch, see and feel how others live. Diversity is highlighted, and expanded thought is created.

"Organizations are looking for leaders who can relate to people from all cultures, show respect for differences and understand others' viewpoints. These trips to a variety of countries add an unforgettable experience to your employment portfolio that global organizations will appreciate. They also allow you to fully develop your potential as an employee, citizen and person.

"Please consider signing up for a trip with Wake Tech. It will change your life!"

"The Earth has music for those who listen." – William Shakespeare

Participating in a musical Study Abroad program will change your life. To travel to a different place and experience everything that makes it unique is like listening to a new song that grabs your attention, draws you in to listen more and reveals a message or sound that captivates you.

Music is a universal language. Every culture has its own music that, steeped in history and tradition, reflects multiple aspects of humanity. To travel and experience live music adds a new dimension to understanding and appreciating it. Whether your music tastes are classical or popular, contemporary or musical theater, imagine listening to live music in outdoor venues, old churches and cathedrals, famous theaters and modern concert halls. See the places where composers from the past and artists of today lived and created music, which is part of your listening World. That is what a musical Study Abroad program offers you, and I wish to guide you through these experiences.

As a native of Great Britain, my first experience traveling and studying abroad occurred when I came to the U.S. to study at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. I was curious to see and hear everything San Francisco could reveal to me. In the music world, this meant queuing up for hours for student tickets at Symphony Hall or the opera and ballet or going to intimate performances in museums and churches. Daily, I enjoyed and discovered new foods, public transportation, interesting shopping experiences and how people lived and worked. Everything was new and exciting, and I was drawn into this "New World!"

Whatever your interests or degree program, wherever you travel, there are an amazing array of musical associations intersecting with many disciplines including history, fine arts, literature, sociology, European culture, architecture and science. Come and join me on a musical Study Abroad trip and be enriched and inspired!

American sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset said, "The person who knows only one country knows no countries." Traveling abroad is a transformational experience because, in order to understand our own country and culture, and even our own selves, we have to experience that which is different, that which is "other."

I learned this truism as a college student when I traveled abroad in Italy for three months during my junior year. Those months were some of the most exciting and exhilarating of my life to that point, and they were also some of the most challenging. Adapting to new foods, strange modes of doing things as simple as grocery shopping or taking a city bus, being surrounded by a language that I didn't understand was all revelatory. It opened my eyes to beautiful ways of life I couldn't have imagined, like the total shutdown of a city for afternoon siesta and freshly made pasta dressed with squid ink. It also gave me newfound appreciation for things I had taken for granted, like ice in water and air conditioning.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, traveling abroad was considered an essential part of a well-rounded education. A fully formed mind was one that had been shaped by contact with difference. In a world as interconnected as that of the 21st century, it has never been easier to make this vision of a well-cultivated person a reality. But even more significantly, in a 21st century culture where it is so possible to remain mentally segregated from others who think, speak, act and live differently than ourselves, and where division, bigotry and prejudice towards those who are different has never been more pronounced, we need the transformative experience of travel more than ever. Travel abroad isn't a luxury,  though there is, of course, expense involved. It is a vital part of becoming fully formed minds capable of bringing harmony and beauty to our world.

Travel and study abroad are foundational elements not only in my education but in my life. As an art historian, I am expected to understand not only the meaning of images but the roles they play in our lives and in the lives of others, both near and far, living or long gone. Accordingly, my studies and work have allowed me to live and study abroad at various points in my life. But traveling isn't only an academic endeavor; it gives you access to ways of life and cultures – foods, languages, daily routines and broad perspectives – that can both be vastly different from, and surprisingly similar to, our own. Experiencing the world from the perspectives of others, in the simplest terms, makes the world a better place.

As a Spanish major, I was able to travel in Latin America (Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela) and study my junior year in Salamanca, Spain. There, I traveled extensively within Europe with a rail pass, spending more than one night in train stations and city parks. I began taking French while in Spain and later took intensive language courses in both Lille, France, and Chicoutimi, Quebec. After college, I moved to Taipei, Taiwan, to teach English as my first "real job." Without ever studying Chinese, I quickly got over my deep-seated stage fright from public speaking by teaching schoolchildren. Afterward, I backpacked for several months throughout Southeast Asia and Nepal. Later, as I made choices for my career path in art history, I wanted to ensure that foreign study would remain possible, and I eventually moved with my family to France and Antwerp, Belgium, where I received a research fellowship to work at the University of Antwerp, studying Renaissance art and culture. While my daily work involved spending hours in the city archives, my joys were riding my bike everywhere, having accessible health care, relishing the joys of Belgian cuisine and building lifelong friendships.

As a faculty leader for Wake Tech's Art History program in Paris, I am proud to be a part of Wake Tech's Study Abroad group. I aim to not only teach students what's on the syllabus, but I also encourage them to develop their own curiosities, build self-confidence and foster new understanding and passions that will continue throughout their lives.

I developed a love for travel, first from my parents who drove me and my two brothers across the U.S. in a Plymouth Horizon, and later while backpacking across Europe with a EuroRail Pass. I learned to love food because my family valued gardening, cooking and eating together.

There is no better way to experience a culture than by sharing and eating its food, on the move and out of one's comfort zone. Anthony Bourdain says it well with this quote:

"If I'm an advocate for anything, it's to move – as far as you can, as much as you can, across the ocean or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food, it's a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move."

Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry Arts and Hospitality Management students will not want to miss this opportunity to travel, cook and discover in Italy.