Coming from an American town of 7,000 on the Canadian border, I was raised by a single mother, who is now my best friend. Every Christmas, I was given a journal, an inspirational quote, and underwear. At the age of fourteen, I was selected to study at I.E.S. Libertas, an international school in Torrevieja, Spain through a Rotary Youth Ambassador Scholarship and with the support of a former teacher turned mentor. Studying in a new culture with students who represented more than 50 countries made me realize my ability to thrive in culturally-diverse environments. The experience turned me into a curious man of the world in need for constant motion. Furthermore, living on the sunny ‘Costa del Sol’ gave me an exceptionally optimistic outlook on life. Thanks to the laid-back Spanish, I learned that life could actually be pretty easy for someone who thinks positive. I wrote a short story titled “Another Look from an American Eye” (later published amongst writers from around the world in a short story anthology entitled Another Look) describing my variety of experiences that included being an au pair for eight-year-old triplet girls, tutoring my math teacher in English, and living with a family who worked in the local tourism industry.
Upon my return to the United States, I went to work teaching Spanish for Concordia Language Villages, an international organization that brings native speakers together to teach youth from around the country in over fifteen different foreign languages through an innovative immersion-based program. That fall, I was accepted to study Theatre as multi-cultural storytelling at the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, Minnesota; a state arts agency that uses the center as a laboratory of sorts to explore not just the importance of the arts, but also how to incorporate them into all aspects of education. In a small setting of 300 students from across the state, I thrived at a school that taught us how to harness the power of the creative and make that side of the brain work to our advantage. During this time, I also took on an internship with the Youth Performance Company, a non-profit educational organization for youth empowerment, explored my individual interest in inter-disciplinary art for social innovation by creating a dance/performance based piece on the guerilla art organization ACT UP, and continued studying French while focusing on playwriting as well as more philosophical theatre and non-fiction ‘docu-drama.’ At the conclusion of my studies, I was named a Minnesota Scholar of Distinction for my playwriting portfolio in developing a play raising awareness of schizophrenia in youth.
I was offered a full ride to Eugene Lang: The New School for Liberal Arts in New York City to study writing and International Relations in an accelerated masters program. Faced with the thought of going through the ‘steps’ society had set out for me, I requested a deferral for a year in search of spiritual fulfillment. I knew school, and society in general, would always be there but my spirit needed a bit more personal introspection. I was 18 years old and had saved $1,000 dollars for my one year pilgrimage abroad. A series of jobs, chance meetings, and a lot of hitchhiking led me to Shakespeare and Company bookstore, where I lived as a writer-in-residence, reading one book a day and working a few hours in exchange for a bed. After several months of working while traveling, I had saved enough cash to buy a ticket to Mumbai, India, just in time to snag an odd job as an extra in a Bollywood film.
While traveling through my first-ever developing country, I made a connection with the successful Indian-American executive, Abul Sharah, founder of the International Village Clinic. With an infrastructure worse than sub-Saharan Africa, I spent a month working on the construction of a new addition to the building as well as writing for its website. Up until that point, my jobs had been simply a means to an end. It was also there I first experienced the power of an individual making change, in fact, through deeds- not words. Inspired, it made me realize the possibility of life and work existing in a much more harmonious way.
My re-entry to the United States came sooner than planned, but in my opinion, all good plans change as much as all people do when undertaking such new experiences. After having spent over six months abroad, I was asked by a friend to attend one of the inaugural balls held for President Obama. Soon after, penniless, but determined to continue my studies of French in a city where I knew no one; I left for Montrèal, Canada. Squatting in an artist’s collective, I spent my days writing, reading, doing yoga, and learning the language. Meanwhile, my year-long sabbatical was coming to an end. I was re-contacted by Eugene Lang requesting my decision to attend the 2009/2010 school year. I replied that, while I appreciated their offer, I couldn’t accept. Initially intending on studying travel literature at the university level, I decided it was best to put the studies to practical use and knew there would be no better place, but abroad.
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December 30th, 2009 at 04:15
[...] It seemed as good a place as any to start, but how could I really answer it? I realized that there would be no better way to figure out who I was than by writing “my story.” [...]
March 7th, 2010 at 17:02
[...] out, but often work themselves out. So, I propose a toast. To all those people scattered throughout my story, who in some way, made me more aware of {abroad} beautiful and complex world full of possibilities. [...]