Were you a small-town kid who dreamed of traveling the world?
Meet Annette Mares-Duran, an advisor in the Global Education Office, and she has made it her mission to help Lobos go global.
“Traveling means a lot to me, it’s part of my identity,” said Annette. “I consider it a big part of who I am.”
Before she came to UNM as a student, she had very little travel experience outside of the United States, let alone New Mexico. When she was an undergraduate student, that’s when she decided she was going to study abroad in Spain. Following that she did an internship in Nicaragua.
“It changed everything with how I saw the world.”
After that experience that’s when she knew she wanted to be an international educator. Once she came back to campus, Annette started to volunteer international office at UNM and did everything she could to gain experience.
“I feel lucky every day that I get to wake up and come to a career that I love!”
Not only did she discover her true passion while study abroad, but she also met her husband in the program. They both were taking the Peace Studies course in Nicaragua and they’ve been together ever since.
“When students are on their study aboard program, things can come up and when students are abroad, in the moment, things can feel really scary. So being able to contact one of us and navigate some of those different challenges is really helpful.”
Annette knows that she can take her career other places out of UNM, but this New Mexican loves her home and she wants to make a difference here.
“UNM has provided me not just an education, but it’s provided me roots and wings and I feel inspired to help Lobos find their roots and wings.”