Where did you grow up?

Until I was 19, I lived in the little Caribbean country of Antigua, well-known to some as the setting of Jamaica Kincaid’s book, A Small Place. Since I was raised with the Afro-Caribbean culture of Antigua and the European and Mexican cultures of my parents, I had to learn early on how to navigate between different cultural traditions. This experience of growing up “between worlds” nurtured my passion to serve as a cultural bridge and promote cross-cultural scholarship, communication, and reconciliation.

What is the most valuable thing that a student studying abroad can learn?

Studying abroad does not need to be a surreal adventure that's disconnected from a student's normal university life. Rather, when a student immerses himself or herself into another culture for a time of study, this can open doors to a world of possibilities they haven't yet envisioned. Students can gain cultural capital that lasts a lifetime and can creatively enrich different parts of their lives; learn to think outside of the cultural box; and experience the joy of living in cross-cultural communities. These experiences can then be integrated back into a student's studies, relationships, ministry, and career plans.

Perhaps the most important thing one can take away from studying abroad is an attitude of humility. As you come to terms with the limitations that your own culture has imposed on your thinking, you are not only more willing and ready to learn from other cultures, but also more open to letting God surprise you in the ways that He can work beyond our own culturally shaped imaginations.

What was your first meaningful experience traveling abroad? How did it affect you?

Well, I grew up “abroad,” but perhaps my most meaningful experience was the summer I traveled to China for a two-month study-tour. I had never wanted to go to China before, because it was just so far out of my cultural comfort zone, but a classmate talked me into the trip. That summer humbled me as I discovered the richness of this new culture and history and how narrow my view of the world had been. It was also the most fun and rewarding summer of my life up to that point. Some of my dearest friends in the world are still in China, and I’ve been going back to visit ever since.

What is your goal/vision for the APU Study Abroad Program?

It would be wonderful if a majority of APU students had a chance to get off-campus for a summer or semester abroad. Yet at the same time, I believe that it is possible to go overseas and merely reinforce your negative stereotypes of another culture without ever deeply engaging the local people. My vision is that study abroad through APU will become an experience that intentionally integrates the Four Cornerstones of APU - Christ, Scholarship, Community and Service - in a unique way that might not happen on campus, and that study abroad will help stimulate our pursuit of a biblical mandate for ethnic and cultural reconciliation.

What is the most exotic food that you have tried while outside of the country? Would you eat it again?

There’s not much I haven’t eaten. On my first trip to rural China, I learned of a local favorite which was described in broken English as the “sticky secretion of small insects.” I readied myself for an exotic Fear Factor moment, only to discover that the food they were describing was honey. At the same time, my local hosts were shocked that I was craving cheese, which they imagined as “rotten milk so old that it gets hard.” It was a good reminder that “exotic” is mostly in our minds.

After living in Beijing, how would you define the relationship between the U.S. and China?

China and the U.S. have had a rather odd relationship over the past 200 years that alternates between romanticizing and demonizing one other. Both perspectives are unhealthy. We currently stand at a crossroads in U.S.-China relations, and I hope that a new generation of American and Chinese young people can develop a healthier level of mutual understanding and cooperation that moves beyond the stereotypes. I would love to see the creation of more study abroad programs that allow American and Chinese students to study alongside each other and work towards solutions on shared problems.

Who has had the biggest influences in your life?

I think that some of the teachers who had the most profound impact on my life were not any Ivy League professors, but rather the “simple” folks I have met during my travels. When I lived in the Caribbean, I used to visit several elderly, disabled neighbors. While they were quite poor financially, they led rich and godly lives. They have served as mentors on how to live a life of deep joy, humility, and prayer. My grandmother Lucille (who at 96 years of age still camps, travels, and works out) also helped instill in me a passion for adventure and travel, through the books she read to me as a child, and through her own long, adventurous life.