Aloha! 

My name is Mileah Gumpert and I will be the course blogger for the U.S. Schools course taking place in Hawaii! I am currently a senior at Luther majoring in Biology and minoring in Anthropology. While at Luther I have been involved with Pals, Student Activities Council, and I am currently serving as Co-President of Luther College Dance Marathon. In my free time I enjoy hiking outside and spending time with friends and family. 

I am very excited to be traveling to Hawaii to learn about the education systems present in this area! I feel every one should become informed about the educational possibilities in the U.S. because these young individuals are who will be making decisions in the future. This course will offer education majors, as well as a variety of other majors, the opportunity to become better informed of the differing education practices in Hawaii and allow for comparison to the midwest education systems many of the students have been exposed to. I'm looking forward to getting to know my classmates and professors in the coming weeks. We will get to experience this exciting new adventure while learning about the culture and education in the beautiful islands of Hawaii! 

The group of students and professors will depart from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport bright and early on January 2nd! Until then, enjoy the holidays and check back for updates on our adventures when we land in Kona!