A Little about Me
Hi friends! I’m Payton, and I’m so happy you’re here! Currently, I’m a student at Concordia University in Irvine, California. I have started this blog mostly as a way to keep family and friends updated on my travels abroad this semester, but also for fun, so we’ll see where this goes. I’m from Colorado and love being in the mountains. I enjoy hiking, hammocking, playing Spikeball, and really just doing anything with friends. You can often find me at the beach, a concert, or asleep on one of my friend’s beds while they do homework. Really all you need to do is follow the sounds of music, laughter, and loud, boisterous people, and you’ll probably find me. Most importantly, my faith is the center of my life and hopefully, that will be evident as you read my posts and come on this adventure with me!
About this Blog
Close friends would tell you adventure is my favorite word, and that I probably overuse it both in and out of a proper context. My goal is to always set out to try and make everything I do a little more exciting whether that is a day at the beach, hanging out in the dorm rooms, or even homework. I believe that anything can be an adventure if you choose to make it one. I hope that this blog will bring a smile to your face and encourage you to create adventures of your own in all that you do.
About the Trip
The Around-the-World program (ATW) was started in 2010 by two professors at Concordia University Irvine. This Fall 2019 trip will be the sixth trip in the last ten years, and I am blessed to be a part of it along with 31 other students, 4 grad students, and our professor and his family. Over the course of 20 weeks, we will be traveling to 11 countries where we will be learning about and interacting with the people and cultures of each of those places. All the students will finish with a minor in Global Cultural Studies after taking 15 units of classes while on the trip and 3 more in the surrounding semesters. We are often taught by our lead professor, although five different visiting professors will come to one country for 2 weeks to teach and share their expertise on the area or a related subject. The trip is so much more than just traveling and classes, however, with the most important aspect being service. We partner and work with different organizations, churches, and missionaries in each country and will spend several hours each day working with them. For more information regarding the trip, visit Concordia’s ATW page (link below), or read my first blog post which specifies more of the details for this year’s trip, and as I continue in the trip, I will continue to post updates, articles, and pictures. Happy reading!
https://www.cui.edu/academicprograms/programs-abroad/around-the-world-semester
