“We ate guinea pigs,” Molly Herman said, as she gestured at the fried rodent pictured in her slideshow. “Yes, the same kind we have as pets.”

From gorging on Cherimoya in Chile, dodging scorpions in Latin America, daydreaming on seacliffs in England and contemplating whether or not eating guinea pig would be a suitable dinner, Herman has had her fair share of world adventures.

“When I was first looking for colleges to attend as a high school senior, my primary focus was looking at what study abroad programs they had to offer.” Herman said.

The Nebraska native studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and international studies in 2006. She studied abroad in England and Chile, taught in the Czech Republic and Ecuador and has traveled to 18 different countries overall.

“Jane Eyre, as depressing of a book as it may seem, was what inspired me to study in England,” Herman said. “It’s been a while, but I miss the smell of English rain, the theatre club I was involved in, the green everywhere, and goodness, they spoiled me with tea. A bag of Lipton tea won’t do it for me anymore.”

After England, Herman moved to Chile in order to boost her Spanish speaking skills and get the most out of Latin culture. Shortly after, she began working on her TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), a certificate that would allow for her to continue traveling and teach in foreign countries.

“I really wanted to go back to Europe, and eventually recieved my TEFL, which you can also do by taking an online course and receiving great feedback from a tutor,” Herman said. “I was able to teach in Czech for about 2 years, and then also taught in Ecuador.”

Herman currently lives in Wayne where she works for the State of Nebraska and teaches a volunteer ESL class at Wayne State. According to Herman, living abroad has presented her with unique experiences, life-long friendships and thrown occassional challenges at her.

“If you’re thinking of studying or teaching abroad, I’d encourage you to go out there and create your own adventures,” Herman said.