05/11/2026
One facet of education I did not take advantage of in college was study abroad. Why not? I grew up solidly middle class in a family that drove west in the summers but flew rarely, and I hadn’t ever left the country before college. Money was tight— I usually worked at least two jobs during school— so although I was intrigued by international travel, it felt out of reach. As I was finishing college, I started to yearn for it and figured out a way to spend a month in service in northern Mexico before starting law school. From there, I realized the best way to travel more (while paying off law school loans) was to work at a London-based law firm, and those years gave me the chance to work in areas of Europe and even Africa. In the years when my children were growing, we had many years on a lean budget and several years with no vacations at all, but I decided that each kid would get one international trip with me. And here we are, after Toronto, Mexico City, Bogota, now I am leaving Athens with the youngest. I think the four days she missed of fifth grade were well spent at the Acropolis, Hydra, and Delphi. Here’s to making our dreams work even when at first they seem impossible.
