I grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, lived in Nova Scotia for about six years, and have been living in the United States for just over ten years for my career in International Education. I currently live in Santa Cruz, California which is in Northern California on Monterey Bay. 

The opportunity to participate in this unique study abroad program changed my life, personally, artistically and professionally. It helped me tangibly understand the importance of intercultural communication, identity reflection work and the value of learning through reciprocal engagement and cross cultural exchange. With a continued desire to connect people from different cultural communities and share the impact of intercultural interactions, I decided to move the the United States to pursue a career in International Education. It became pertinent for me to help support other undergraduate students become connected to global educations. Moving through various roles in study abroad/away within higher education I built a career in this field, advising, supporting and facilitating global experiences for undergraduate students. 

Throughout the experience of working with students, I began to realize that it’s not just about visiting new cultural communities through study abroad/away. It’s also important to consider how we perceive; how we use our eyes and interpret what we see, and how our lived experiences and identities impact how we make meaning of what we see and experience. How can one teach others how to develop these skills? How might one’s ability to responsibly, ethically and empathetically engage with different cultural communities? Could visual literacy and intercultural communication skills be taught in tandem? These musings are what led me to the desire to pursue my Masters degree and further investigate. 

At first, I enrolled in Masters of International Education and Leadership at the School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro, Vermont. This institution is known as being the roots of Peace Corps and was the first/oldest university of offer a Masters in International Education. I completed a year there, but quickly determined that the topics I was investigating would be better supported in the NSCAD MAAE program. I worked with Dr. April Mandrona to transfer applicable courses to my MAAE and completed the remaining 2 years of my 3 year hybrid degree at NSCAD. By building my own degree in this way,  I was able to complete my thesis in an interdisciplinary manner combining helpful knowledge of the United States higher ed, and international education landscape to conceptual art, social practice and art education pedagogy.  My thesis: Building Intercultural Competencies through Art Education Pedagogy fuses together two fields not commonly combined or explored, art education and international education. It was the best possible move for me.

Due to the pandemic, I was also able to complete my degree remotely from California since the courses were only offered online at that time. This was particularly important to me, as I was working full time as the Assistant Director of Global Learning at the University of California Santa Cruz at the same time, and I was not able to relocate to Nova Scotia. Luckily, I felt already very connected to NSCAD and understood the NSCAD learning environment and community well from my undergraduate degree. I was very grateful for the timing and support offered by Dr. Mandrona and NSCAD and I graduated in 2022.