As a student, I remember feeling that the world was "off limits" to me. I wanted to see what other parts of the country and world looked like, understand how other people lived, and how our way of life came to be. As a child who had never traveled far from home, I realize now that I could have benefited greatly from career exploration, virtual (or textual) travel, and the encouragement to explore from my wider educational community.

When I first started college at California State University, Fullerton, I was able to visit my first national park, Yosemite. I remember wondering to myself how I was able to go through elementary, middle, and high school without learning about places with such geologic and cultural history, especially since this magnificent wonder was only a few hours away and I had shown an interest in geology since it was introduced to me in fourth grade. As a college student pursuing a career in teaching, I began to reflect on what other aspects were absent from my schooling experiences. At this moment, I made a commitment to myself, and to my future students. I would become a lifelong learner and find out as much about the world as possible. Only then could I be able to sample enough of the world to my students to help them discover what they want to learn more about. After all, a student cannot become passionate about green energy, sewing, hiking, human rights, animal welfare, basketball, photography, or national parks if they are never encouraged to explore these skills, topics, and places.

Over the last six years, I have taken advantage of every opportunity to learn, develop, and expand or deepen my knowledge base. I have visited numerous national/state parks, learned to cook food from multiple cultures, explored different types of music, visited environmental/animal rehabilitation centers, and so much more. Technology has been a major resource for me as I have worked to fund new experiences. I am thankful that I can pass these "tips and tricks" onto the families that I work with so that all of my students can learn about their world, on any budget. Below are images of a few of the topics I have explored and will bring into my classroom. I am excited to see how this list continues to grow.