I’m a travel writer, blogger, social media influencer and content creator who aims to promote the relevance and teachability of cultural competence in everyday life.
As an MA in Global leadership, I am eager to educate others in cultural competence, inspire people to adopt a culture-inclusive mindset and facilitate a platform of purposeful visual and written travel content.
I have explored 10+ countries and counting, lived abroad, learned multiple languages and now I desire to share my experiences — in hopes of inspiring others to recognize the vitality of cultural competence.
Here’s the back story…
When I was 8 years old, my father, who is a pilot, was transferred to Swords, Ireland, right outside of Dublin. My family and I packed our belongings and moved across the Atlantic to a little village named Stamullen. We quickly learned what it meant to be the minority, what it meant to assimilate to a new culture and what it meant to have empathy for people different from us.
Having had this cross-cultural exposure at such a young age instilled a burning fire in my soul for the nations.
Fast forward a few years to my junior year of high school, I was researching colleges like an average 16-year-old, attempting to discover myself by mindlessly scrolling through university degree track lists. I knew I was gifted in a few areas, but I longed for more. I longed for purpose.
As I sit here now reminiscing on my childhood and teenage time of desiring purpose, I recall praying for direction one night in my bed. It went something like this:
“God, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know what you want me to do. But, I’m yours. Call me. Guide me. Use me.”
A tear or two may have been shed in the process: a tear of uncertainty, a tear of peace and many tears of fulfillment. For the first time in my life, I had surrendered not only my past and present to God but my future, too.
After that night, doors began opening left and right. I began tutoring other students in Spanish. I was offered a global ministry internship directly out of high school. I was asked to spend time working with our sister church in Peru. I was offered another internship writing for a magazine. I graduated Summa Cum Laude. The list goes on.
And now, here I am, writing to you as I pursue a master’s degree in global leadership and pastoral counseling. I share this anecdote not to boast about my accomplishments, but to demonstrate God’s control over your seemingly anxious and purposeless life. If you ask Him for direction, He will give it to you.
In some way or another, we are all called to the nations.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8, New International Version).