A new face will be greeting our Fiji groups at the Nadi airport this summer. Jean Vergara, a cheery and comical individual, joined the AUIP Fiji team to accompany our groups.
Jean earned her M.S. degree in Education, specializing in Counseling and Guidance, from California Lutheran University. She attended Stanford University and California State University, Fullerton during her undergraduate studies and obtained a B.A. degree in Communications-Advertising and Radio-TV-Film.
Jean feeding a kangaroo in Australia
Jean has worked within the many levels of education in both private and public school districts. Jean’s passion to travel and mentor led her to England where she worked as a counselor/teacher’s assistant at TASIS, The American School in England. In addition, she has spent past summers working for an international language immersion school at Pepperdine University as both a summer counselor and later as the Academic Director. Previously, Jean has served as a faculty advisor for the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Los Angeles as well as the National Young Leaders State Conference and National Youth Leadership Forum on Collegiate Success.
So you can get to know her a bit, Jean provided us with these 10 fun facts about herself:
- Avid traveler (5 continents and 41 U.S. States so far!)
- Certified Scuba Diver
- Loves…loves…loves karaoke
- Grew up on the island of Guam
- Was in a national commercial about free credit reports online
- Plays the harmonica
- Has worked in education for eight years- both Stateside and overseas
- Loves to dance
- Does not like okra
- Is always smiling
We know Jean will be a strong asset to our Fiji programs this summer, and we look forward to all of our faculty and students meeting her in the coming weeks.
