"Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar."
- Antonio Machado
The quote above has always stood out to me as a reflection of the journey I've taken in discovering my passion for International Education. Roughly translated, although Antonio Machado can never truly be translated, it means, "there is no path, the path is made as you walk it."
Growing up a dual-citizen of both Spain and the US, I was always surrounded by two cultures, both unique and complimentary to various aspects of my life. I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to travel often to Spain, and after each trip my love for the country, it's people, and it's culture grew. When I was a freshman in high school I already knew that I was going to study abroad in Spain in college, but what I didn't know was how drastically it would change the path I was headed down.
After my study abroad year in Granada, it became clear that I had to find a way to return to Spain post college graduation. That's when I found teaching and moved to Madrid to become an English teaching assistant. I had always had an interest in education, and of course, I ended up becoming so passionate about it that I decided to pursue a MA in Bilingual and Multicultural Education while in Madrid.
After my MA I reluctantly moved back to the US (knowing very well how much I would miss Spain) in order to obtain a California Teaching credential. Various campus visits, informational interviews, substitute teaching days, and california state exams later, I realized that something was still missing. It was in this very search for the perfect education program that I found the Middlebury Institute of International Studies' MA in International Education Management (IEM) program. I applied immediately, and started 2 months later.
Entering the field of International Education Management has been the best decision I've made in my professional career thus far. For one, I have even been able to return to Madrid to work in this dynamic and exciting field. But also, because of the IEM program, my mission is now to strive to make the incredible potential International Education has to create change and influence students around the world possible. The path to do this will not always be clear, but then again, I will make the path as I walk it.