Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Photo Courtesy the OIP Office

Baur drops anchor at the OIP Office

By Kuong Lam

khlam@vwc.edu

She s a sailor girl at heart. A life of ocean travels is the norm for a true water woman. She s been to many places at sea. Now she s here to help students get to where they want to go.

She s the kind of person you can just sit down and talk to, whether you re talking to her about studying abroad or finding out what it is like to live on a boat for several years. For Mary Ellen Baur, a graduate intern from Old Dominion University working in Virginia Wesleyan s Office of Intercultural and Cultural Programs, living on a sailboat for two months at a time was not unusual for the Suffolk native.

 My dad used to be a charter boat captain, said Baur.  That means he was the captain of boats for people who wanted to go sailing, but did not necessarily know how to sail the boat themselves.

Between middle school and high school, being away from land for two months at a time was her typical summer vacation.

 We would not be on land unless we needed work done on the boat, Baur said.  That would be the only time we would sleep on land at a hotel or resort.

That would also mean that she spent her summers with no one but family members.

 Actually it was pretty awesome, said Baur.  I m the oldest of four daughters, and it taught us to live in different areas.

Between traveling around the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands and South America, Baur was a student athlete at Nansemond Suffolk Academy. Field hockey and soccer kept her active between summers full of surfing.

An interest in art sparked during her senior year in high school at a boarding school in Vermont. Her nomadic character continued to journey throughout her years of undergraduate studies. During her two years at Rollins College in Florida, she was on the sailing team competing with other schools in boat racing. From a semester in Baja, California through the National Outdoor Leadership School, where she hiked mountains and lived out of kayaks until she graduated with a BFA in the sculptures program at Virginia Commonwealth University, sailing is definitely in her blood.

 I really miss it when I m not doing it. It is a collegiate varsity sport, said Baur.

Fluent in both Spanish and English with accounting experience, Baur is pursuing a master s degree in higher education administration at ODU.

 I am very interested in diversity issues, said Baur.  Since I have been to so many places, I want to work with students to help them be where they want to be.

What about art?

 I feel like with art, you have to eat, sleep, and breathe art, Baur said.  You have to look for jobs in New York for art. I have too many interests to just limit myself to one.

Baur, 25 years old and just married this past summer, plans to stay in the Hampton Roads area despite having been to 25 to 30 different countries.

To say the least, she has experienced a lot, like being a vegetarian for five years and backpacking through Europe.

 Oh yeah, I also traveled to Lima, Peru, to help build a church when I was in college, said Baur.  I worked as a translator for the crew.

Now she is working with Lena Johnson, director of the Office of International Programs, to help students and professors put together study abroad programs and events while looking forward to a December 2008 graduation from ODU.

 I am working on a handbook on studying abroad for faculty, promoting events, corresponding, and budgeting.

Any other career interests?

 I want to be a dentist or a dermatologist, said Baur.  I love to remove things that don t belong there.