Kari Svendsen | Admissions Advisor

I was born, raised, and attended university in Minnesota. During college, I studied abroad in Argentina and realized how much I loved South America. I investigated every opportunity to get back and found that teaching English was the best opportunity to live abroad again. After finishing my undergraduate, I moved to Quito, Ecuador. I taught business English to adult learners at international companies and held private English lessons for young learners.

After teaching in Ecuador, I returned to the states to complete my Master’s degree in Comparative and International Development Education. I learned about intercultural and immersive educational experiences. I spent MANY hours researching and writing my thesis, which focused on the cultural transitions for students in study abroad programs - how students process these transitions and how providers can best support their students during their experience abroad. During my graduate program, I worked in my university's learning abroad center specifically the short-term study abroad program department.

Following my graduate program, I moved to Chicago and that's how I got here! I started working at the International TEFL Academy. Now instead of teaching abroad myself, I advise and chat with prospective TEFL students about their future teaching abroad or online opportunities. 

After completing my degree, I moved back to the Persian Gulf (this time, Dubai) to teach high school English––in search of fresh cultural experiences and, of course, money. At the beckoning of academia I returned stateside (NYC) for grad school, which was followed by another year of teaching in Dubai. I’m married to my best friend, soul mate, and travel partner, with whom I have two awesome boys.

I’m from a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. I studied at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I completed a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Studies, Bachelors of Science in Technical Writing, and Master of Arts in Comparative and International Development Education. In case it's not apparent, I am definitely a lifelong learner. I love being a student and learning new things!

Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, China.

My first experience traveling abroad was late in life, too late in my opinion! When I was 21 years old, I studied abroad at a local university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I lived with a host family, volunteered at a local non-profit, explored the country, ate dulce de leche with almost every meal, and struggled through the porteño Spanish dialect. After my semester abroad, I delayed my return to the USA by backing through South America. I caught the “international travel bug”, the South America strand!

In total, I've spent 2 years living in South America. As you may have gathered already, I studied in Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as taught business English to adults and was a private tutor in Quito, Ecuador.

Empanadas - sweet or savory, I could eat them for every meal!

Don’t be afraid to not know or understand: ask questions, make mistakes, and embrace the unknown!

On a daily basis, I help students realize that teaching and traveling abroad is possible, which is pretty amazing. I get to live vicariously through our students and learn about all the cool things they’re doing. Nothing makes my day better than my students checking in while they are teaching abroad/online and fulfilling their dream!