Perfectly captures it.

Passport to Entering the Field of International Education

I am asked often for tips on how to enter the field of International Education.  This is a question that I understand well, because when I finished my undergraduate degree, I had no idea this field existed.  I knew I wanted to work in something international, but I didn't know what.  My college advisors and professors had no idea of the field either.  Once I finally found the field of international education, I felt like everything had finally fallen into place.

Typically the questions I get about how to enter the international education surround where to find job listings.  But two more useful questions you should be asking of yourself as a candidate are:

"How do I set myself apart in this ultra competitive field?"
"How do I not work against myself?"

HOW TO SET YOURSELF APART

Have an experience abroad.
It is virtually impossible for me or any other employer to hire someone into the field of international education who has not either studied or worked abroad (or both!)  It is like being a vegetarian working in a steak house.  You need to understand and believe in the product in order to be able to pass on your passion and knowledge in the best way possible.  Also by having gone abroad, you are able to demonstrate a sense of independence and willingness to take chances that is very valuable as an employee.  So if you haven't already, study or intern abroad!  I hear Athena Study Abroad is a good place to start :)

Get your degree(s).
To work in the field of education, having your education is important.  Earning your degrees provides you with the educational foundation and knowledge base to perform successfully in the field.  Also, whether you believe in it or not, having your degrees provides you with the credibility to advance and grow in your role in a field of highly educated and worldly people.

Network, network, network.
While this field spans the entire globe, it is a surprisingly "small" and networked group of people.  We all value the input of our peers, and reputations mean a great deal when looking to hire new employees.  An applicant that comes with a good reputation and/or recommendations from others in the field is sure to be set apart from the rest of the pack.  Making connections can only help you, and we are a very friendly bunch (if I do say so myself!)  Great places to start are national and regional conferences with organizations such as NAFSA or Forum on Education Abroad.


DON'T WORK AGAINST YOURSELF

The devil is in the details.
Misspelling the company or employer's name on a resume.  Leaving in mention of another company in the cover letter from a previous job application.  Calling a woman Mr. or Sir.  All of these seemingly small things are actually quite large errors that would make most employers immediately disregard the application.  When you are dealing with students going abroad or students coming to the US and the extremely precise work of immigration documents, I-20s, visa assistance, overseas enrollments, etc....details are EVERYTHING.  Therefore, if you make large errors when you are seemingly on your best behavior and trying to present your best self in the application process, it stands to reason that details are not your strength and thus you may not be a fit for this field.

Longer is not always better.
There is an art to presenting yourself concisely and thoroughly.  Resumes that are 5, 6, 7 pages long tend to lose the interest and impact for the employer.  Much like friendships or dating, you don't want to over-communicate or disclose too much on the first introduction.  Find a way to convey the important information, and elude to further details that can be conveyed in further discussions and/or interviews.

Don't apply for a job you don't want.
People often apply for jobs that they don't want just to see what's out there.  While there is some benefit to getting interview experience, this can work against you.  The interview process can be a long and consuming one for both the interviewee and interviewing company.  By interviewing for, and rejecting a position due to lack of interest in a position at a company, you could jeopardize your chances at getting another chance at the same company in a position that is a better fit down the road.  Be sure you would at least consider accepting the job before submitting your resume to maximize your time as well as that of the potential employer.

Happy job hunting!

Wherever you are, be all there.

"A child on a farm sees a plane fly by overhead and dreams of a faraway place.  

A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home."

Focusing on being present in the moment is such an important (and often very difficult!) concept for me.  My life has always been about anticipating the next opportunity, path, challenge, or most commonly, the next trip.  Travel has always been a huge part of my life.  When I was a child I would spend many summer afternoons at our local small town AAA collecting books (yes, this is what we old fogies did before the internet!) and making intricate plans down to the smallest detail for all of the family trips I intended to happen.  I would return home with TripTiks, tour books, hotels scouted out...I would even know what road tolls to anticipate.  Unfortunately, not everyone in my family was as interested in living out of a suitcase as I was, so these efforts very often were in vain.  I would spend my time in my small town and dream of traveling to all of the exciting cosmopolitan places in the world.  Rome, London, Madrid, Tokyo, Sydney...sigh.  I imagined all of these effortlessly cool people sitting outside at cafes and piazzas drinking wine, talking about the world's issues with other effortlessly cool people.  I had a month's itinerary in my mind cocked and ready to execute for any city I could get to.  I spent the majority of time as I grew up in my small PA town not being present there, but with my head in the clouds, always on a jet to some faraway land.

After I turned 18, I was determined to realize my dreams.  My travels have taken me across the North America, Europe, Central and South America, Australia, the Caribbean, and beyond.  They were wonderful experiences and I learned so much about the world through my travel.  In many ways it lived up to my dreams and expectations.  And yet the more I traveled, the more I found myself daydreaming about home.  Missing life in my former small town.  Postulating on what people I knew were doing there.  Were they eating pancakes at my favorite greasy spoon breakfast joint?  Were they all lining up on Main Street for a community parade?  Oh how I miss the sense of a community.  Why didn't I appreciate that before?

One thing has become crystal clear to me throughout my time of travel.  Where you are will never be the one thing that determines if you are happy.  It is being present in the place you are.  Wherever you are, be all there.  Every place has its beauty.  Every place has great people.  It is extremely difficult, and extremely important, to stay present in the moment, where you are, with the people around you.  Put down the phones.  All we have is now.  The things you fear in the future, the things you look forward to while wishing away now...they are in the future.

I just got back from another trip abroad.  Tell me if this sounds familiar.  Before I went, I thought, "I can't wait to go overseas.  The new scenery, the exciting new people, the exotic new food, the new sights....just what I need!"  All I have to do is get through the arduous airport scene.  Then when I am abroad, I thought, "thank goodness I am off of the plane and can stretch my muscles.  Ahh!  I better call home and let everyone know I am here safely.  Hmm, I wonder what they are doing now?  Probably having dinner.  I could really go for some good home cooking.  I love that house.  I miss my husband and son.  Man, I really miss home."

Never in the moment!  At least not naturally.  It is something I work hard at, but often struggle with.  It was subconscious for me for many years, this is why I bring it up now.  Perhaps you are unconsciously doing this too.  Bringing it to my awareness has helped me appreciate life and all of the wonderful things I get to experience, RIGHT NOW.  Soak it up.  Don't miss today thinking about tomorrow, because if you do, tomorrow will be another today that passes you by.

Define Necessity

I came across this photo a few years ago, and I always feel compelled to track it down and revisit it annually around this time of year.  I am not sure where we went wrong with the "spirit of the season," but somewhere along the way, holidays have gone from being about

* peace * love * thanks * togetherness *

Replace that now with...

* gluttony * spending * consumerism * greed *

Define necessity.  The verb 'need' is grossly misused.  No one NEEDS a Tickle Me Elmo (who gets that reference? Did I just age myself there?)  We rarely need anything that can be put on a list.  There are The Tangibles - food, water, shelter, a source of income.  And The Intangibles - love, happiness, etc.  But never has a pair of shoes or a movie subscription calmed my soul.  Don't get me wrong, they are fun.  But define necessity.

People often dread the 'getting together' part of the holidays.  Probably because of the fighting and stress that most often is as a result of a months-long shopping spree full of lists, seeking, searching and empty bank accounts.  What if we took a year off of buying fruitcakes for each other to rest up and look forward to our time together?

If you want to give something, why not help out a charity?  They are ones that help people, animals, etc. to achieve true, tangible necessities.  Is it better to give Uncle Don a new tie, or a hungry child a meal?

Define necessity.  

For ideas on ways to satisfy true need this holiday, check out https://www.justgive.org/

Another Road Takes You

I recently came across this poem and I thought it was insightful and lovely.  For those of you who are not yet travelers, hopefully it will inspire you to go beyond your comfort zone to explore new worlds.  For those who are veteran travelers, hopefully it will prompt you to take a minute to reflect and appreciate the privilege of travel that we often take for granted.  Enjoy.

**************************

For the Traveler

Every time you leave home,

Another road takes you

Into a world you were never in.

New strangers on other paths await.

New places that have never seen you

Will startle a little at your entry.

Old places that know you well

Will pretend nothing

Changed since your last visit.

When you travel, you find yourself

Alone in a different way,

More attentive now

To the self you bring along,

Your more subtle eye watching

You abroad; and how what meets you

Touches that part of the heart

That lies low at home:

How you unexpectedly attune

To the timbre in some voice,

Opening in conversation

You want to take in

To where your longing

Has pressed hard enough

Inward, on some unsaid dark,

To create a crystal of insight

You could not have known

You needed

To illuminate

Your way.

When you travel,

A new silence

Goes with you,

And if you listen,

You will hear

What your heart would

Love to say.

A journey can become a sacred thing:

Make sure, before you go,

To take the time

To bless your going forth,

To free your heart of ballast

So that the compass of your soul

Might direct you toward

The territories of spirit

Where you will discover

More of your hidden life,

And the urgencies

That deserve to claim you.

May you travel in an awakened way,

Gathered wisely into your inner ground;

That you may not waste the invitations

Which wait along the way to transform you.

May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,

And live your time away to its fullest;

Return home more enriched, and free

To balance the gift of days which call you.

~ John O’Donohue ~

Jet Lag and Diaper Bags

Have you ever noticed how much travel is like parenting?

I am guessing your answer is no, and not because you disagree, but more likely that you are sane enough to never have compared the two.  My mind goes places like that.  What can I say?  Introverts like to dig deep into their heads sometimes.  Like digging around that closet of clutter, you never know what you are going to find.

Travel is like parenting.  Envision either of these scenarios applying to parenting, traveling, or both.  Whichever you can relate to best.

Anyone who isn't fortunate enough to do it, always romanticizes it.
"You are so lucky!  That must be so nice to get away from work to relax/have fun." 

Wake up in a jolt to a screaming alarm. Matted hair. Bags under your eyes. Time for a shower = luxury. Throw on wrinkled clothes that may/may not have questionable stains on them. Rapidly eating your only meal of the day, a breakfast bar, while grabbing your purse/wallet, keys, bags, sunglasses, (maybe tiny human), out the door.  Why are my feet cold? Oh I forgot my shoes. Go back inside. Sleep is a memory. Silence, a dream.  Wait, where are those keys again? [insert evening version of same events]

Anyone who is fortunate enough to do it, always complains about it.  
"Ugh, this is the third time this month I have had to go to Europe.  What a nightmare."
" Ugh, this (loving, adoring) kid always needs something!  Just my luck, he now wants me to help him find his crayons so he can express his love for me by drawing me a picture.  It never ends."

The scene above is true - no sleep, little mental rest, time to yourself is history, life is dictated by the clock, days pass in handfuls rather than one by one, and being "on" all of the time, especially for an introvert like myself, can be beyond grating and draining. But here's another truth - they are two of the most educational, transformative, and rewarding experiences you can have in life.

Nothing that is easy is worth it.

Anyone who has done it, can never imagine or go back to a life without it.

The minute you catch the travel or baby bug, you had best get your postcards ready.  Because you will need to send one to your former self.  Your old way of seeing things is gone.  You will never get that back.  You will never be who you were before your eyes were opened to seeing colors you didn't know existed or to faces you never knew you could love until you laid eyes on them.  It is a rebirth.  A new education.  It is a new you.

And then there is traveling WITH children...but that is a whole other blog.

My son, already loving to travel.  Also a young gentleman,  insisting,
I repeat INSISTING to carry my luggage.  Indoor voice, please.

Gem Tips

I am often asked by my less experienced traveler friends for travel tips.  Immediately in my mind I go to thinking about telling them how much their suitcase should weigh, or or how to find the best hotel or airline deals.  But they are able to find out that information on their own.  That may be what they think they are asking me for, but what I can really help with are those hidden gem tips.  The ones that involve such small details of travel that you wouldn't think to ask about them, but once you know the tips, can make all the difference in the world to the ease and comfort of your travel.

Always bring an empty water bottle or thermos.
It can be a fancy Camelback, or as simple as an old plastic water bottle.  You can't take liquids through security, and if you come with a full water bottle you will have to throw it out.  It is important to stay hydrated while traveling, and by bringing an empty bottle, especially a self filtering one like a Camelback, you will be able to fill up your bottle at water fountains at the airport, restrooms, and restaurants without breaking the bank buying water.  Save your money for something more exciting while traveling like....well....anything.

Don't pick seats together.
Well, that isn't entirely true.  When you are traveling with a friend, pick seats with an open seat in the middle.  For example, if you have the option of 1A (window), 1B (middle), and 1C (aisle), you and your travel partner should pick 1A and 1C.  When other people are picking seats they will rarely pick a middle seat, for fear that the people sitting next to them (aka YOU) will be nightmares and they will be bookended between Dumb and Dumber.

This makes odds good that you will have an empty middle seat, and you and your paisano can live la dolce vita and enjoy the row to yourself (as much as seats that are 6 inches wide and recline 2 inches can be enjoyed).

Also, this picture is pure fiction. No one has ever been that comfortable, or comfortable at all, on an airplane. Ever.




Bring hand sanitizer.
Everything you will touch on your trip will be dirty and gross.  Everything.

Wear socks.
That can seem like a no-brainer to some people, and a foreign concept to others.  If you are a sneaker,
boot, or dress-shoe traveler, socks are likely part of the uniform.  If you are a sandal or ballet flat type, socks probably won't be your go-to travel friend.  But believe me, when you are barefoot going through security lines that are tens or hundreds deep, sometimes various times throughout a trip, you will want something between your feet and that well worn and soiled ground.  Don't believe me?  Look at a stranger's bare feet one time.  You will be sprinting for your Gold Toes.

Wear a scarf.
This applies to men or women.  Scarves not only add a little style to an otherwise frumpy travel outfit, but the real key to them is that they can double as a blanket on an airplane.  On more and more flights, blankets are a scarce commodity.  Maybe those in first class will have them, but the huddled masses in coach seating are left to be...well, just that.  Huddled together for warmth!  A scarf is a great way to keep warm in the airplane and throughout the varying temperatures in airport terminals, and can easily double as a head scarf when you need a quick fix to hide that airplane hair.

Try not to check any bags.
You have heard this a million times, but lay out everything you want to take with you, and then pack half.
 You will not regret leaving behind those 20 pairs of shoes when you are carrying your 2 ton bags up to your 4th floor flat in Europe without an elevator.  It depends on the duration of time you are traveling for too.  If you are like one of my study abroad students, you obviously need to check a bag to have enough for a semester.  But if you are going for even a week to 10 days, a carry on will suffice.  Take things that can mix and match (neutrals like black and brown pants and jeans, pair them with neutral shirts and then mix things up with accessories, jewelry or jackets.)  My favorite carry-on bag combo for women is Samantha Brown's Cabin and Tote set.  But guys, there are a lot of great options out there too.

...and last, and maybe least.....

Carry pink luggage.
Disclaimer: this one contradicts everything a 21st century woman like myself stands for..."I am woman, hear me roar!"  I don't wear the damsel in distress costume well.  But here it is.  Don't kill the messenger...I'm just reporting what I have heard.  If you are a woman traveling alone and need help with your luggage (like those of us that travel to fairs and trade shows with hundred pound suitcases full of catalogs and other swag), a friend once told me that whenever she has pink luggage, people offer to help her get her bags in and out of overhead compartments.  And when she has black or blue luggage this never happens.  This is hardly scientific research, and because I don't have any pink luggage I haven't been able to test it out, but it sounded interesting enough to share!  No harm in looking a little helpless, especially when you do in fact need help!