Name: Maura Manette Gray
Major/Minor: Global Studies and Political Science major, Spanish minor, Public Policy Analysis Certificate
Hometown: I was born in Erie, PA but I moved to Kansas City, KS when I was 6 and lived there until I came to UNL.
Year at UNL: Senior
Tell us why you chose Global Studies as your major.
Coming in as a freshman Global Studies gave me a relatively safe start to explore a lot of different subjects but then after I picked up Political Science I was able to study different topics not only in depth within Political Science but also across the board globally and within other disciplines.
What are some of the best/most interesting classes you’ve taken?
COMM 375: Theory of Persuasion, although you learn a lot about advertising a lot of the information applies to things in several different classes, especially looking at speeches and other pieces of literature.
POLS 472: State Terror, by far the most interactive but emotionally draining course I have ever taken. Terrorism by no means is a fun topic but this course breaks it down and rather that just knowing the facts and dates about events we began to identify themes and tactics about events.
What are your suggestions for new Global Studies majors?
Talk to Emira! She is incredible and whatever you may be thinking about doing I guarantee she has an answer or knows someone you can connect with to get it done AND she will have you on track to graduate while you do it.
Literally, just jump in there! All those courses that just interest you or that random education abroad program or internship that kind peaks your interests, take them. Most times things have a funny way of piecing themselves together in the end, don’t get too out of hand of course – we still have to graduate at the end of the day.
Use all the resources centers on campus; writing center, speech lab, modern language lab, etc. I’ve learned so much from going to these offices and the events they host and I’ve also met so many people that have provided recommendations and connections for so many different parts of my undergrad career.
Tell us about your study abroad/internship experience.
After my freshman year I had the opportunity to do the Atatürk University Bridging Cultures summer school in Erzurum, Turkey.
This past summer I went to São Paulo, Brazil to study Portuguese and Business at Fundação Armanda Alvares Penteado (FAAP). I, a little city Kansas girl, had never been in a city as big as São Paulo (I’ve never even been to NYC) but it was truly amazing! I lived within a 15-minute walk of my university so each day I got to explore a new route to FAAP and I went to the bakery next door literally everyday during our break from class. Since we did not start class until 1:00pm on Monday and we had no class on Fridays my classmates and I spent the weekends traveling to Paraty, Juqueí, and exploring São Paulo. We ate feijoada every Wednesday and danced Samba and drank caipirinhas on the weekend. After my courses were over I spent a week by myself in Natal, RN, Even though I lost my phone the first day of class I had such a wonderful time getting lost and learning Portuguese in Brazil.
What are you post-graduation plans?
The closer graduation day comes the more and more uncertain I get about my next move but within the next three years I plan on pursuing a Master’s degree in International and Comparative Education, but either before and/or while I pursue that I want to take time to get a teaching certificate and/or TEFL certification and either teach civics or ESL domestically or English abroad. My dream job would be to work for education non-profit (like XQ or Education Pioneers) either doing policy advocacy or working with curriculum development related to internationalization or second language acquisition.