I
grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and spent my whole
pre-AUP life there. I moved to Paris to attend AUP when I
was 18 and have been a nomad ever since.
I spent four years in Paris (with one semester abroad in
Cape Town) and after graduating from AUP moved to Cape Town
to attend graduate school. After finishing my MPhil in
HIV/AIDS and Society from the University of Cape Town, I
moved to Washington, DC to work for an international NGO:
CHF International. Soon after joining CHF, I was sent on a
two-month assignment to Haiti and ended up spending almost
six months there setting up a rural clinic. I then moved to
Rwanda – also with CHF – to serve as HIV/AIDS and Capacity
Building Advisor on a large community-level HIV/AIDS
program. In 2008 I moved to Chicago to take a position with
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights. I am
currently based in Chicago, but travel around 70 percent of
the time for work. I’m Heartland Alliance’s Director of
Global HIV Initiatives and I also Coordinate the Global
Equality Network – a global lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender
(LGBT) rights and protections initiative. I manage projects
and work with partners in Guatemala, Nigeria, Burundi, DR
Congo, Rwanda, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Sri Lanka.
Why did I choose AUP? For several reasons! I wanted an
international experience; I wanted to get out of the US; I
wanted to attend a small university; I was greatly attracted
by the concentrated international mix of students (800
students from 100 countries when I began at AUP); and, of
course, Paris itself was quite a draw…
If I had to describe classes at AUP in one word I would
say interactive. Classes were small (I never had a class
with more than 25 students) and always included an
impressive mix of students from around the world. While
there was the occasional lecture, more common were
discussions and debates. And with such an amazing
concentration of nationalities and global experiences
represented in each class, the debates were always highly
engaging and full of diverse insights.
During my four years at AUP I lived in the 19th, the
18th, the 16th and the 2nd arrondissements. I loved
living in the 2nd, just off of rue Montorgueil – I still
miss breakfasts at Le Pain Quotidien with my French bulldog
at my feet! I never lived in AUP’s neighborhood, but I spent
so much time there I know it better than some of the areas I
called home. It’s hard to describe how Paris enhanced my
academic experience – I can’t imagine what it would have
been like anywhere else. I entered AUP having lived my
entire life in suburban USA. I moved to Paris with limited
international experience and very limited foreign language
ability. I left speaking French, having a completely
different worldview, and with friends from around the world.
Paris gave me exposure that I would not have had anywhere
else. It’s still my favorite city to visit.
Since graduating from AUP I’ve gone to graduate school,
lived in three countries, learned two new languages (Spanish
and Haitian Creole) and have never stopped traveling. I’ve
worked in international development, public health, and
global LGBT rights in a number of countries in Africa, the
Americas, and the Middle East. AUP led me to this
international career. Studying with Susan Perry, Georges
Kazolias and others introduced me to international
development, Africa, and human rights work in the developing
world. Thanks to these professors, I developed an interest
in international development and human rights work and
pursued a career in this field.
Studying at AUP was an incredible experience –
academically, personally, and culturally. I value the
amazing friendships I developed during my time there and
that I still maintain today. AUP changed my perspective on
what I could do with my life. Now, post-AUP, I can’t imagine
doing anything else. AUP opened my eyes to a new world of
possibilities and helped me realize the options available to
me. |
