Conversation with Cashie

Cashie Naylor. World traveler. Hard worker. Better friend.

Cashie has accepted a position at Northeastern University as an International Coordinator and will be temporarily moving to Greece in September. I chose her as my first interviewee because she's passionate about what she does and funny.

Question:

"What is your favorite food?"

Answer:

"Noodles! All types of noodles. I love Asian noodles... Italian noodles? If American's made noodles, I'd love them too."

Question:

"What is favorite color?"

Answer:

"A light baby pink--specifically. Like, a blush pink."

Question:

"What did you want to do when you were a kid?"

Answer:

"I wanted to be a dance teacher, princess."

Question:

"When did you figure out you would never be a dance teacher, princess?"

Answer:

"The dance teacher part? Eighth grade. You know, I don't want to work late hours every single week, and I haven’t given up on the princess part yet."

Question:

"What made you choose International Education?"

Answer:

"I love traveling. I love other cultures. I love working with students and seeing how they change when they go somewhere different. I love seeing how open-minded and ready they are to embrace a new culture."

Question:

"How did you find out about this career field?"

Answer:

"Honestly, researching online. I didn't think this career field existed. I thought you either worked for a private Study Abroad program or in higher education, then I found this, which is a mix of the two."

Question:

"What does your day-to-day look like in your field?"

Answer:

"There are so many areas in International Education you can go into, so it's hard to say. There's security, policy, etc. I want to focus on student programming and student support."

Question:

"What will your day-to-day look like?"

Answer:

"I once had a full-time position in an office at a university. In that setting, you create relationships with other universities and programs for international exchange programs so students can get the most of their experience. My job [in Greece] will be a lot of fun because I get to plan programs for the kids, then go on trips with them, teach a class about adjusting to life in Greece, and run a social media newsletter to show their parents they're still alive."

Question:

"What inspired you to become passionate about International Education?"

Answer:

"I went to Okinawa for a month when I was thirteen, and it was very different from being outside of the US. In college, I went to France as a part of a Study Abroad program. There was a moment in France where I saw a bunch of Italian kids playing soccer in the street, and they wanted us to play soccer with them. And it was so cute because we couldn't speak their language, they couldn't speak ours, but we were all playing soccer together."

Question:

"So, is that what made you realize you wanted to work in International Education?"

Answer:

"I think when I came back, I realized this is what I wanted to do. It wasn't one big moment, it was a bunch of little moments."

Question:

"I know you talk a lot about loving seeing how the students change when they travel, but you've studied abroad two times, so how has traveling changed you?"

Answer:

"It made me feel more independent. When I was trying to figure out how to navigate four different countries in two weeks, I thought, 'I can probably handle anything life throws at me.'" It made me feel more trusting of the world. There are bad people and good people, but I’ve learned there’s a lot more good out there than I ever thought. It also made me feel like I didn't need as much and more comfortable with the unknown."