STA Travel, which claims to be the world’s largest student and youth travel organization, launched a spectacular public relations campaign in 2007 by creating “world traveler internships”—“a three-month, 8-country-plus, out-of-the-office Internship for two lucky young people with every expense covered by STA Travel.” The internship is “open to any young person in the U.S. under the age of 26 who wants the opportunity of a lifetime to travel around the world for three months blogging, shooting photos and videos, and tweeting about their adventures from June through August 2010.” Needless to say, the competition for the annual internships is ferocious, so, since one our recent Geography students is in the running this year, let’s give him our support!
“Cody Kaufman is one of our geog department graduates, class of 2009. He took the GIS and remote sensing series and is now traveling and teaching English in Thailand. He’s up for an exciting opportunity to become a STA World Traveler Intern which would include lots of traveling and reporting. Obviously a UCSB Geog grad would make the best candidate…. particularly one of MY students” (grad student Indy Hurt).
Here’s what Cody has to say. Note that he wrote it in the third person ‘so the editor wouldn’t have too much work to do’ – not only is that offer appreciated (though ignored), but it highlights one of Cody’s many skills, which will be judged in the competition:
Before moving to Thailand to teach English for six months, Cody Kaufman had never left the daunting perimeter of North America. His history of exploration, though, had enabled him to see quite a lot domestically; He has been to the top of the St. Louis Arch, has dangled on the viewing deck of the Empire State Building, witnessed the highest scoring game in the history of the American League at Fenway Park, snowboarded Mt. Hood in July, watched Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone, stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon, stared down into the crater of Mt. Saint Helens, parasailed in Hawaii, and ridden horses in the hills of Texas. All of this, apparently, still did not quench his thirst. After graduating from UCSB in June with a degree in Geography and a minor in Sports Management, Cody took a path less traveled by.
Inspired to move internationally through his upbringing in the cultural melting pot of Southern California, he left the everyday Hollywood surf-turf scene on a mission to do something different. Just eight months removed from tossing his cap on Storke Lawn, Cody is now teaching English at Muang Thalang School on the beautiful island of Phuket, located in southern Thailand. During this time, he has added new quirks to his travel resume; he has bowed his head in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, has ridden elephants, played with tigers, and has swam with black-tip reef sharks in the Andaman Sea. This, however, only scrapes the surface of the real experience.
Now near the end of his term in Thailand, Cody has recently turned his attention in a new direction. He has been passionately working hard to become the next STA World Traveler Intern, which would allow him to inspire the world by writing blogs, producing videos, and snapping captivating photographs. The internship is very competitive, though, and he needs our help. By visiting the STA web site, the UCSB community can help one of its very own alums in making a face-to-face impact in the world. The internship would ultimately take Cody on a three-month journey exploring Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, and Europe. After opening the link listed above, you can view his profile, watch his application video, and help vote him into the next qualifying round. He has been pouring his heart into the application process overseas, but he needs some help from back home.
After watching his video online, you will be inspired in one way or another. The Facebook group titled “Vote for Cody’s STA World Intern Video!!!” enables anyone to join, and allows people to invite others to vote as well. In a recent statement, Cody’s outlook regarding the situation firmly reflected the opinion expressed in his application. “My main goal of the video was to encourage people to travel, and to offer a more worldly perspective. If I’m fortunate enough to land the STA internship, I’m going to do everything I can to inspire the people that I can reach out to. Most people want this for themselves, as do I, but I really want to do this for others. I want to be that American guy who came in and changed everyone’s perspective.”
For more information about the competition, visit STA’s web site. Then check out Cody’s video – He’s got my vote, and I think you’ll agree that he deserves yours! (For more about Cody, see his web site.)
