By Ellie Smith
Features Editor

History teacher Kathleen Ralls has always had a love for traveling. From Europe to Asia, she has commuted to multiple countries and had always wanted to experience living in another country. Last year, her dreams of living abroad were reached when she traveled to Norway from August to late spring where she stayed in an apartment in the capital of Oslow.

“I have always wanted to live abroad,” said Ralls. “It was really a dream come true.”

Being presented with the opportunity to live abroad was not a simple process. In April of 2012, Ralls began the application for the Fulbright Scholarship, a scholarship program that has been around for about 25 years in which over 150 countries participate in the program. The Fulbright program allows people all over the world to travel to different countries and experience other cultures.

The  year-long application process consisted of a 30 page application containing reviews and recommendations, videos of Ralls teaching and a Skype interview with representatives from the program in Oslow. She was notified of her acceptance on April 15th of 2013, and she remembers the day because it was the Boston marathon bombings. She was sitting at mile 17 cheering on friends and family running in the marathon when she received an email notifying her of her acceptance.

Ralls was one of three people to be selected as a roaming scholar of American Studies where she traveled to 40 different schools around Norway to meet over 3,500 students. She spent most of her time in ungdomsskoles, schools with students in grades eight through ten, where she taught Norwegian students about all aspects of American culture.

“My thought was that the Fulbright Scholarship was an amazing opportunity for Ms.Ralls to grow professionally and to contribute to the global conversation on what is good teaching,” said History Department Head Libby Porter.

When she traveled to Norway in August of 2013, she had little idea of what to expect living in a foreign country. Once there, however, she loved experiencing a different culture firsthand and observing the Norwegian ways of life.

“It was wonderful to just be totally immersed in the culture,” said Ralls. “I didn’t have a car and I love to run and walk. Everything is public transportation, so just to walk the streets wherever I went was a lot of fun. You learn quite a bit just through observation.”

An aspect of Norwegian culture that Ralls observed is that the people tend to be more reserved and introverted.

“One of the things that stuck out is the Norwegian culture is kind of shy and introverted,” said Ralls. “So, when I would go to different classrooms, they would say that I have crazy American energy. A lot of the students were so shy they would bow their head and not want to talk. That really stuck out to me.”

Once she got to know them, however, she says they were very open and warm people with incredible personalities. Multiple people opened up to her and she has made man friendships that will last a lifetime.

“If you have a Norwegian friend, you have a Norwegian friend forever. So, I will have friends to return back to,” said Ralls.

While in Norway, Ralls enjoyed learning about the Norwegian culture and has gotten a better appreciation for different cultures around the world.

“It has just given me tremendous appreciation for migration around the world,” said Ralls.” Whether it be people who move because they have a luxury to do so, like me and people who move because they have to.”

History Department head Libby Porter is happy to have Ralls back at WA and has enjoyed learning about her experiences.

Though her husband had to stay home during her trip as he is teacher and coach in Lowell,  she hopes to one day have a family and bring all of them along on her next trip.

Ralls has always had a love for traveling and her trip to Norway has left her wanting to do more traveling in the future. She hopes to travel to Aftrica and South America, two continents where she has never traveled before.

“[My trip] has left me wanting to do a lot  more international education and travel,” said Ralls. “I have a lot of new personal and professional goals as a result.”