Education

Starting the Rest of Your Life

By WorldStrides Intern, Safiya Mohamed. 

Hello everyone! I’m Safiya Mohamed (she/her/hers), and I am coming to you from Columbus, Ohio. I am a recent graduate of Otterbein University, where I double majored in English Literary Studies and Educational Studies and minored in Race & Ethnic Studies. I am currently the Campus Partnerships intern, working under Melissa Chambers and Jenna Tantillo.

My journey to WorldStrides began with my interest in working in education. As an education major, I expected my path to lead me to teach, but I found the classroom wasn’t where I wanted to be. My continuous interest in working in education led me to find other routes of doing non-traditional roles. While preparing to study abroad with TEAN, I found the field of international education, eventually leading me to this internship with the help of my mentor, Michelle.

I wanted a career in education because of the lack of diversity in the classrooms and administration. Representation is vital in all fields, particularly in an area where young people spend most of their waking hours. My internship has allowed me to continue my journey in education, and I have been able to work on projects centered around DEI in education abroad, something I value. 

While I was abroad last fall, I would not have expected to be interning for the same company that brought me there months later, but as Big Brother’s host, Julie Chen, always says, “expect the unexpected.” As I start to think about what is next in my life, I am a bit frightened, but I am glad to have had this opportunity this summer. I know that my internship was a step in the right direction for whatever my future holds.