Avid traveler and Fox marketing professor Katie Gerst reflects on her time teaching global immersions at Temple. She recalls favorite experiences and advice for students looking to go abroad.
What made you decide to teach abroad?
I’m a traveler at heart. To date, I’ve been to 49 countries on six continents. To be able to do the job I love (teaching) while also doing the hobby I love (traveling) was a no-brainer. Plus, I love getting to see students discover a new country—it’s like getting the experience for myself all over again.
Study abroad vs Global immersion: What are the biggest differences?
The biggest difference is time—immersions are much shorter. But the global immersion course itself, IB 2509, is very different. We spend the whole week visiting different businesses and really focusing on doing business in that particular country. With a study abroad, I’m teaching courses that are broader, like business communications or marketing, and then complementing it with local content and experiences.
I know you’re used to doing the teaching but is there anything that you have learned by going on these immersions?
I have learned to “go with the flow” a lot more. Stuff happens and you have to just roll with it. For example, when we landed in Portugal, we got all the way to customs before a student realized his passport was still on the plane—and you can’t go back. Thankfully, the flight crew was able to find it and bring it to customs. Wow—was there a moment of panic when he first told me he didn’t have his passport! And I was in Spain with graduate students when Covid-19 shut the world down. We had to help 15 students—11 of which were international—change their flights so they could get home before the borders closed. Talk about stressful!
What is your favorite destination and where do you plan to go next?
Having lived in Rome, it’s very close to my heart and has become a second home for me. I go back to visit friends every year. However, I’ve now taken two groups of students to Madrid and have been there a few other times with friends. So, it’s become a close second.
As for wishing, I’m starting to think about what country number 50 will be. I think it needs to be a bucket list kind of trip. I’m leaning toward a safari somewhere in Africa, like Kenya or Botswana.
Do you have any advice for students looking to go on their first global immersion?
DO IT!!! Go wherever you can go. And be ready to really immerse yourself. You can sleep when you get home.
Interested in learning more about global immersions? Join us Wednesday, September 13 in Alter Hall’s Undergraduate Commons from 4 – 6 PM for the Global Immersion Fair!
Check out upcoming Global Immersion destinations to Ghana, London and Japan. Applications are open!
Need a passport? Learn how to apply for a passport and current processing times.
Apply for a passport scholarship. If you’re a freshman or first-year transfer student at Temple and have never applied for a passport, you’re eligible to apply for Temple’s Passport Scholarship to help cover the cost of your passport fees.