Summer Shenanigans at the Melibee Global Hive

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I can’t believe that it is already late July! Anyone else feeling this way? Before the lightening bugs and daisies pass too quickly, I am sharing a few updates on our (North American) summer hive shenanigans so that you can get a sense of what we’ve been up to!

Settling in and moving around

The Melibee family has taken a leap of faith and actually purchased a house in North Carolina! “Bee”ing from New York, you can imagine how difficult a decision this was – since “home” is always going to be New York – but we’re excited to plant some roots.  Prior to that, we took a whole week off – which is rare when you’re self employed (you never really are “off”)!  We took our littlest bee, Hudson (2.5 years old) to a water park in Virginia and enjoyed the Shenendoah Valley. The history buff in me also dragged my family to Monticello for a reminder of where we have been as a country and how brutally we enslaved people from African countries.  It was a worthwhile visit and I’d recommend it, particularly the slavery tour.

Programming for 2017 and beyond

Benny Lewis during his travels – meeting locals during a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

A lot of our p;rogramming happens around speaker bookings, particularly in the fall because of International Education Week, but we are able to book speakers any time of year.  For example, an educational organization has booked Daniela Papi Thornton for a keynote presentation at their annual conference. Michael W Twitty is also keeping us very busy this fall because his book, The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American History in the Old South, will be released on August 1st and his book tour is taking him across the country.  We have a lot of inquiries around multicultural events, particularly for Santos and Aman Ali, who embody action around understanding the people we call neighbors but perhaps don’t REALLY know.  I’m especially excited that National Geographic Traveler of the Year (2013), Benny Lewis, is available in the US this fall because he is normally traveling the globe non-stop and he is now somewhat rooted in NYC for the moment. I do remember the many years of campus programming I participated in when I worked at colleges – always wishing we had more diverse and expansive options for speakers – and that is what drives me to work with this roster. They’re inspiring, globally minded, and really engaging.  If you have ideas for more speakers, please do be in touch.

The hive is still examining our virtual programming and in person events.  We’d love to do more but have to be thoughtful in the time it takes to plan and deliver quality programs. Stay tuned as we reflect and announce these kinds of events!

NAFSA Regional

I just learned that my 2 sessions proposals for the Region 7 conference in Spartanburg, S. Carolina were accepted.  The first session I’ll chair is on a topic near to my heart – the international education job search! My co-presenters for this one come from a diverse range of Southeast colleges and will have many perspectives and stories to share.  The other session I’ll chair is with Candace Doby (that’s her on the left) and we’ll talk about Being Black, Travel, and Fear. Candace didn’t travel abroad until 10 years after college.  She will talk about the fear she felt as a black, female traveler and how she overcame it.  I am particuarly excited about this one because Candace has a passion for busting through fear in life and I’m sure that will resonate with educators who are keen to encourage more education abroad.

Celebrating!

We’ve been doing a lot of celebrating as countless members of our C4 Cohort for IE job seekers have landed some incredible jobs this summer at employers such as Princeton University, CISAbroad, State University of New York, The Gunston School, University of Florida, and Claremont College. Everyone negotiated their salaries  and/or professional development funding to some extent – and one person even got $7,000 more than was originally offered!  We put together a new testimonial page that includes videos, too, this summer. We are gearing up for our next C4 Cohort on July 30th – you can learn more here!
We are also celebrating a few milestones in our Melibee family – Kyle Rausch completed his EdD from Arizona State University (go Dr. Kyle!)  Katy Rosenbaum and Lisa Zenno are attending SIIC this summer  – something on my bucket list for sure!

Dare I say, we are also celebrating that our son is inching closer to being potty trained!  I’m definitely looking forward to a day without diapers! 😉

That’s what we have been up to!  Here’s to joyful moments and creative play as this summer meanders on!  🙂 “Bee” in touch if you have any news to share – or comment below.