I am so excited and honored to be serving as a Teacher Leader for the People to People Student Ambassador Programs this year. I think that travel offers an incredible opportunity to engage with, learn about, and develop understanding of diverse cultures, traditions, and peoples. My personal experiences traveling have truly broadened my perspective on life, values, and cultures, and have allowed me to meet and develop friendships with peoples from all over the world. I believe that People to People Student Ambassador Programs offer a very unique and in-depth opportunity to increase cross-cultural exchange and communication. I cannot wait to be a part of your journey on the Mediterranean Traditions trip, and hope to serve as a resource and partner as you discover what these incredible countries have to offer.
About Me: I am a social worker who has worked in clinic, hospital, and school settings. I have enjoyed working with people from many different backgrounds and of different ages, but my passion is for working with children and teenagers. I absolutely love that I get to be a nonjudgmental support and advocate for kids who are struggling and in need of help. I recently got married, and am very excited about the fact that my husband and I will be traveling together as teacher leaders on the Mediterranean Traditions trip. We have done a lot of traveling together, and are looking forward to sharing with you what we have learned in our travels. In particular, we hope that our knowledge about Italy will help to enrich your journey, as we both met there and lived/studied there for several months!
Hobbies: I have always loved learning and using foreign languages, and speak both Spanish and Italian. Whenever I am preparing for a trip abroad, I always try to learn as much of the language of that country as I possibly can, so that I can communicate a bit with the locals. I find that learning a language helps you to connect to the people, culture, and history of a destination on a deeper level. Even if you only learn a few words or phrases, it makes a big difference and I have found that the people you are visiting really appreciate your effort! In my free time, I also love to ski, go camping, and go hiking. Volunteering is also very important to me, and I am currently training to be a disaster mental health volunteer for the American Red Cross.
Travel Experience: I have had the opportunity to travel to many different countries over the last 10 years. In high school, I traveled with other students (just like all of you!) to Italy for ten days, and got to visit cities like Rome, Florence, Assisi, San Gimignano, Venice, and Capri. It was the first time that I had been out of the country, and I have been hooked on travel ever since that trip. Since then, I have had the pleasure of traveling to Croatia, France, Greece, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and San Francisco. Some of these experiences have been very unique in that they offered me an opportunity to stay with locals and avoid a more “touristy” trip: in Croatia, I spent two weeks on a tiny island (with a population of 80 people!) with a close friend of mine whose father was born there. In Brazil, I stayed with my husband’s family, which was exciting and interesting and helped us to really understand what it is like to live in that country. I studied abroad in both Puerto Rico and Italy, taking language and social work classes at local universities. I learned a lot about Italian language, food, culture, and history while I was in Florence, which was very special for me since I am Italian-American. I look forward to sharing this with you during our time in Italy!
