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Our first guest of 2021, Courtney Tucker, brings us a unique twist on travel and sports and how these efforts combined led to a budding new business!

Courtney began playing fastpitch around age 10. Family vacations soon merged into travel associated with softball tournaments! Participating in travel softball teams led to opportunities to play the sport she loved while seeing other parts of the U.S.

In this episode we talk about balancing athletics and academics and the importance of building a relationship with faculty to ensure smooth transitions during the seasons. We also discuss her international travel opportunities to play sports. Courtney traveled abroad for softball…twice! Her first trip took her to Germany, Amsterdam, and Holland and in 2008, she traveled to France, Amsterdam, and Holland. Playing against teams from Puerto Rico and Switzerland was cool, but seeing the Louvre ranked as a top tourist experience for her!

She got her start in collegiate coaching through s a graduate assistantship. Her experiences coaching opened her eyes to gaps that existed in the game of softball. This led to the creation of her new business Green Leopard Sports (GLS), a softball development company. GLS currently provides one-on-one lessons for softball players at all levels. Recognizing mental toughness as a need, her company differentiates itself by focusing on the mental aspects of the game in addition to fundamental skills needed to be an all-around player.

In an effort to diversity in softball, Courtney is building a nonprofit, Diamond Life, which seeks to help underrepresented female youth in the sport of softball.

A new addition to her business is her activewear line which can be found at www.g-l-sports.com or on IG at @GreenLeopardSports. Trust me, you’re going to want one of these beanies; they are so cute!

We hope you enjoy “Sports Abroad”.

Hello and happy first day of September! 

If you've been following our journey you know that we had the opportunity to pitch STAMPED at the Diversity Abroad conference. Even better than pitching was actually winning 3rd place! For those who weren't able to attend, I thought it would be fun to share my pitch with you. In this version I took the liberty of explaining things in a little more detail but overall this is the pitch! Again it was such an honor to present at the Diversity Abroad Innovation Competition. Thank you to Andrew Gordan and the DA staff as well as CAPA who sponsored the competition. I also need to shout out my dad, sister, and friends for listening and kindly critiquing my pitch!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Follow us on IG at Travel Gene LLC to see teasers for our first professional development!

Growing up in a military family, traveling was something Alieshia was accustomed to doing, so when the opportunities presented itself in the form of a high school trip to Paris, she jumped at the opportunity. Once in college, she knew she wanted to travel to a Spanish speaking country, but hadn't thought about doing so to earn academic credit. Fortunately, a representative came to one of her classes to talk about a study abroad program to Panama. This presentation coupled with insights she gained from previous participants was enough to seal the deal! During the summer after her junior year, she was able to study abroad again in Trinidad and Tobago. As luck would have it this experience would lead to a chance to go from participant to study abroad assistant at which point she was able to assist with the recruitment, planning, and in country experiences for undergraduate students! Find out more about her exciting experiences in today's episode! 

For more of Alieshia's Adventures, be sure to follow her using the info below!

Instagram: @AlieshiasAdventures

Blog: https://alieshiasadventures.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzTSpnX-siX8gjcZnxW3Dw

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Keep up with STAMPED on Instagram @TravelGeneLLC or on Facebook at Stamped by Travel Gene. 

Have you ever looked at a business name and wondered "how'd they come up with that or what does that mean"? 

I think this all the time, so today I'm letting you in on the back story of Travel Gene LLC. Learn what inspired the company and the meaning behind the name. 

In this episode, you'll learn about our new project!

I’m so excited to announce that Travel Gene LLC is launching the first ever course on Black travel. Think of it as the really cool elective class you needed, but wasn’t offered in school (If it was let me know; I want to check it out)! Because we're piloting the program, we're offering it at a discounted rate. We're looking for between 5-10 participants for round 1. 

This course is for you if you work in international education, the tourism industry (DMOs, Tourism boards, etc) or you're simply interested in this topic! To learn more schedule an inquiry by emailing Ms. Charis Tucker at [email protected]. 

Continue to follow the fun on Instagram @TravelGeneLLC or Facebook at Stamped by Travel Gene. 

Sometimes I’m still amazed at the connections you can make via social media, which is exactly how I became acquainted with our new guest, Tyler Janeé. Her early travel experiences started with family RV trips. A trip to Jamaica sparked her interest in international travel and for years she's been making it happen by any means necessary!

In high school, a study abroad advisor visited her class to talk about collegiate study abroad opportunities (how cool)! From that point on, she knew study abroad was something she wanted to do. Once enrolled at Clark Atlanta University, she made her way to the study abroad office. After weighing her options, she decided on a program in Costa Rica! The program representative for International Studies Abroad assisted her with the enrollment, choosing a home stay family, and so much more.

Prior to traveling abroad, she began researching online. Although there weren’t many resources at the time, she (fortunately) found Oneika Raymond’s blog Oneika the Traveler!  Resources like her blog are extremely useful for Black students studying abroad; we both agreed that while this perspective has grown, there's so much more to be done especially as it relates to the study abroad sector. 

During the interview we discuss her in country adventures, managing reverse culture shock, teaching abroad and how these experience led to the creation of the Turbulence Podcast and her new nonprofit Study Elsewhere.  

Keep up with Tyler Janeé on Instagram @TylerJanee or on Tik Tok at TylerJanee_

Enjoy...You've Been STAMPED!

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Stay Connected 

Blog: STAMPED by Travel Gene 

IG: @TravelGeneLLC

FB: STAMPED by Travel Gene

Twitter: STAMPED by Travel Gene 

Our latest interview took place in May with Jordyn, a Hampton University graduate. While at Hampton he studied business management and leadership.

We recorded this interview in May, and initially it was slated for release in late August for our Fall 2020 season but our discussion on COVID-19 and the development virtual exchange seemed so timely that we decided to release it early. What we didn’t know was just how timely the other parts of our conversations would be. As the country continues to grapple with the recent deaths of African Americans due to systemic racism; protests, apologies, and requests for educational resources on anti-racism have seemingly filled every bit of media we consume. The sentiments shared in this episode highlight the importance of exchange and how it can be used to break down stereotypes, especially the narratives of African American/African American males. Gaining insights into the lives of others are critically important parts of the conversation that should continue in the US and around the globe.

In this episode, Jordyn walks us through his own developmental process of understanding study abroad as a vital part of his future success. He talks candidly about the importance of intercultural competence for all travelers and gives us a peek into how he's been using his passion to highlight experiences like Fulbright to other HBCU students. 

Episode Resources

NAFSA is the largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education.

Fulbright offers international research, study, and teaching experiences to recent graduates and graduate students. 

HBCUs: Historically Black Colleges and Universities 

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Stay Connected

Blog: STAMPED by Travel Gene

IG: @TravelGeneLLC

Facebook: Stamped by Travel Gene

Twitter: @stampedbytrave1

The first episode from our “Chat from the field” series was phenomenal! In this episode we discuss Noelle’s early travel experiences to visit family in Jamaica and of course we debrief her experience studying abroad on a faculty led program to South Africa. 

We also dig into our early experiences in international education. Be sure to listen for the incredible moment we shared recognizing we experienced similar situations as new international educators. (The power of storytelling!)

Lastly we discuss what life has been like as an international educator in the midst of COVID-19 and the role of virtual/remote learning opportunities. 

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Episode Resources

Faculty-led Program - a study abroad program in which at least one faculty member from the home institution accompanies students abroad (Forum on Education Abroad, n.d.).  

NAFSA is the largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. 

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Stay Connected 

Blog: STAMPED by Travel Gene

IG: @TravelGeneLLC

Facebook: Stamped by Travel Gene

Twitter: @stampedbytrave1 

I had the pleasure of interviewing a rising junior named Mariam who had her sights set on studying abroad in South Korea during the fall 2020 semester. With the continued impacts of COVID-19, Mariam's not sure her dream of studying abroad will happen, but she, like many other college students, remain excited and hopeful. 

In this episode Mariam shares her reasons for wanting to study abroad as well as her thoughts about traveling after COVID.  

Enjoy her story at anchor.fm/STAMPED. 

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IG: @TravelGeneLLC

Facebook: STAMPED by Travel Gene

Gabby Beckford is a well known travel blogger and founder of the brand Packs Light. Through her travel and lifestyle blog, she encourages members of Gen Z to seize opportunities and see the world! Gabby has earned over $69,000 in funding, $40,000 of which was dedicated to studying abroad which has allowed her to see the world both during and after college. Her weekly opps are a huge hit and have led to her followers winning funded travel opportunities to places like Russia and Azerbaijan! 

Gabby and Packs Light have been featured in Essence, Bustle, and Lonely Planet. She was even a TEDxMount Penn speaker. Check out her talk here. 

Join us as we explore:

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Show mentions...

United in Travel

Stay Connected w/Gabby

www.packslight.com

IG: @packslight

Twitter: https://twitter.com/packslight

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IG: @TravelGeneLLC

I had the pleasure of interviewing a dear friend, Mr. Kenneth A. Taylor, Jr. As evidence in our 3 hour conversation, he and I had a LOT of catching up to do. 

Kenny (as he's commonly known) has been living in China for almost four years (at the time of this interview). During our conversation, we discussed topics ranging from the decision to move to China, his podcast-- Mama K's Adventures in China, and  starting a business abroad, however this particular episode will focus on his experiences being in China when COVID-19 was first discovered, traveling to America and back to China, and finally his experience in quarantine. 

During the conversation, you may hear a couple phrases that aren't familiar, for context definitions have been added below:

Yuan- a term used to refer to currency in China. 

wàiguó rén- the literal translation is "person of a foreign country". It is often a term used to describe a foreigner. 

lǎowài-another term used for "foreigner"

At times, both wàiguó rén and  lǎowài carry negative connotations, which was the case in this scenario. 

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Leave us your comments on "Quarantine Conversations" @TravelGeneLLC on IG.