When I came to St. Olaf to interview for a scholarship in the winter of 2007, one of my interviewers was Professor of Political Science and Asian Studies Kathy Tegtmeyer Pak. After the interview was completed, we chatted a bit about my interests, and I realized that my intended majors (political science and Asian studies) aligned with Kathy’s own academic background. She mentioned the idea of a Fulbright grant to me in that moment as a future goal, and I was instantly intrigued. I’d never heard of it before then, and had never considered the options, but that single conversation influenced the trajectory of my life.

Since that moment, I went on to have Kathy as my academic advisor at St. Olaf. I did two J-term programs abroad, and spent a semester at Waseda University in Tokyo while living with a Japanese host family. Those experiences led me to a Fulbright Research Grant in Japan for the 2011–12 year, where I lived in Fukuoka, Japan, and studied women in politics.

After my Fulbright, I came back to the U.S. looking for a job. I ended up working in healthcare IT, which was a strange turn from the politics and Asian studies I’d started with. But my very first project at my new company was to work with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust in England. I traveled there every month for almost two years and helped my company pioneer the use of our software in the national health service. I used every bit of my experience adapting in my previous travels to learn to navigate working in England, which had more cultural differences in the workplace than I anticipated.

“My success working in international healthcare owes a great deal to my time spent abroad at St. Olaf. I learned how to be flexible with faced with languages I don’t speak or customs I don’t understand, and how to be open to and accepting of ideas that challenge the way I’ve always done things. I’ve figured out how to function in the face of the unknown, and to view it as an opportunity to grow rather than a roadblock I can’t overcome. I get to be pushed every day to be my best in my job, and I know I can meet that goal because I have a strong foundation to work from.”

Since that project, I have continued at my company for a total of 12 years. I have worked in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, in both English and Quebecois French; in Switzerland in Swiss German; and with several more NHS Trusts in England, including spending two years as an expat based in our regional headquarters in Bristol, England, while I worked with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

My success working in international healthcare owes a great deal to my time spent abroad at St. Olaf. I learned how to be flexible with faced with languages I don’t speak or customs I don’t understand, and how to be open to and accepting of ideas that challenge the way I’ve always done things. I’ve figured out how to function in the face of the unknown, and to view it as an opportunity to grow rather than a roadblock I can’t overcome. I get to be pushed every day to be my best in my job, and I know I can meet that goal because I have a strong foundation to work from.

I am forever grateful for the opportunities I had a St. Olaf to widen my world, and am looking forward to what future students are able to accomplish with those same opportunities.