I'm Emma, an educator, writer, and storyteller. My fascination with travel began with a voracious appetite for reading books that grew into an interest in unearthing stories all over the world.
I grew up reading about characters who go on adventures through faraway places: both fictional and real. When I had the opportunity to study abroad in England--the land, in my mind, of all great literature--I immediately applied without a second thought. I was convinced that my story would begin in England.
My alma mater, Kenyon College, has a partnership program with the University of Exeter that allowed a group of English majors to live in England for a year, taking classes from British professors along with our American advisors. In the first semester, our professors took us to see brilliant theatre in London every other weekend. We also traveled around England, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, reading William Wordsworth in the Lake District, seeking James Joyce's favorite spots in Dublin, and exploring Bath through Jane Austen's eyes. I immediately wanted my story to expand beyond England, so I fit in a European getaway every available weekend, hitting Rome, Krakow, Venice, and Amsterdam. I trekked from Paris to Athens to Budapest to Bratislava to Prague to every part of Spain that I could reach.
Suddenly, Spain felt more like home than anywhere else I went, and I immediately realized that my story would begin in Spanish, not English like I had thought. My family, many generations back, is Mexican, but our language and culture was suppressed and lost under Midwest prejudice. Obsessed with decoding the few family heirlooms that we still have, I double-minored in Spanish and art history in college. When I travel, I always find myself drawn to museums and architecture, stories in a universal language. I knew I wanted to teach English in a country filled with beautiful art and dominated by the Spanish language.
I chose to do a Fulbright in Uruguay while in the midst of student teaching. Uruguay, a tiny seaside country with more cattle than people, has one of the best education systems in the world. I wanted to learn a new story of what education can be. I am excited to share my stories from abroad with you!
Want to learn how you could be a Fulbright Scholar like me? The Fulbright Program is the United States government's flagship international exchange program. Fulbrighters foster mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the world. Learn more by clicking here!
