My Journey ~ Renee Lurie, Intl. IEC: Go Global Education
I had no idea university advising existed when I graduated from high school in 1990 on Guam. With the encouragement of my school’s art teacher, I applied to one university in the United States, was admitted, and decided to attend the University of Guam to major in Visual Arts as New York was out of my budget even after considering my scholarship award.
After receiving a B.A. in Communications from the University of Guam and an M.A. in Mass Communications and Broadcasting from Arizona State University, I moved to Nicaragua with my fiancé. We were married in Costa Rica and then moved to the Dominican Republic, where our eldest daughter was born, and then returned to Costa Rica and had our second daughter. In 2008, we moved to Puerto Rico for a few years before returning to Costa Rica in 2010, where we currently reside.
This profession found me in 2011 when I discovered that my girls’ international bilingual school did not provide formal university guidance. I met with the school’s director with an updated resume and cover letter. I was offered a part-time position as a university advisor, which rapidly morphed into developing a full-time College Prep program curriculum and weekly classes for 10th and 11th (senior year at most Costa Rican schools) graders.
I received a Graduate Certificate in College Counseling, “Earned with Distinction,” from the University of California Los Angeles in 2014. I have participated in numerous international counselor fly-ins to tour universities to gain first-hand knowledge about their educational opportunities for international students, presented in various professional sessions at the International Association for College Admissions Counseling’s annual conference, and was a founding member of the Network of Costa Rican College Counselors (NCRCC) formerly known as the Costa Rican Association for College Admissions Counseling (CRACAC).
In the Spring of 2020, COVID hit hard. Excitedly I inaugurated a shared office space with a colleague, to have to close its doors a frustrating short six months later. Zoom saved me! I quickly transitioned to virtual sessions and have offered my services online since. This unexpectedly allowed me to cross borders virtually to guide students worldwide with their global university research and application processes to universities in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, The United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia, Costa Rica, and beyond. It’s been and continues to be a thrilling journey with many curves and unexpected transitions, much like a dragonfly’s life.
In 2019, after considerable thought and consideration, I transitioned to independent international university advising with the mission to reach students with little to no international university and career counseling in their high school who desire personalized guidance. In 2019, I was granted associate membership to the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) and co-founded the Costa Rican Independent Educational Consultants (CRIEC) professional group; and in 2023, my application for Professional Membership to IECA was approved.
