Grab Your Passport

Welcome to my blog! As I embark on my travels, this blog will be a place for me to post updates, photos, and document my journey. You can sign up below to get email updates so that you can follow along. Thanks for being here!

I'll be kicking things off with an overview of where I will be for the next six months. The rest of 2019 is going to be big. By the time 2020 rolls around I will have spent more time abroad than in the United States!

My travels will begin this summer in Gazipasa, Turkey where I will be working as a research assistant on the Antiochia ad Cragum archaeological site. This spring I have been taking an archaeological research seminar as part of my history major, and was invited my professor to get some field experience this summer. I'll be working with 3 other St. Olaf research assistants and we will eventually be joined by 10 or so beginning interns.

Antiochia ad Cragum is a Roman and early Christian site in Southern Turkey. St. Olaf has been excavating there for the past couple of years, and I am beyond excited to get to put my knowledge from the seminar into practice.

I'll return to Portland in August for a few relaxing weeks at home (lots of baking, lots of cuddling with cats), and then it's off on Global Semester! I will be abroad for my whole fall semester along with 19 other St. Olaf students as we learn about education, public health, art, and politics in a global context.

We'll start in Paris, then Egypt, Tanzania, India, China, and Argentina. We have been meeting regularly for the last few months of the semester, and the group has a super good vibe. By the time we return I imagine that we'll basically be siblings - how could we not after that many long flights together?

I am unbelievably excited to start this journey across the world, and I feel so lucky to be able to participate in these programs. As I've met with my fellow Globies, we've talked a lot about gratitude. International travel is a very privileged experience, and there are so many factors at play that are allowing me to have the experiences I am going to in these next six months. Of course, I have worked hard to earn these opportunities, but I am also lucky to be able to take this time away from my regular life in order to experience the world. So, as much as I am excited, I am equally grateful.

Keep checking in for updates, photos, and stories from abroad, and thanks for reading!