Who helps create the amazing events hosted by the Office of International Services? One piece of the pie is Courtney Hartzell, the OIS Program Assistant. Born in Buffalo, New York, Courtney decided to take her love for international travel and culture here to USC. Her love for a multicultural life started on a family vacation to Curacao. After trying to speak the native language with a local jewelry specialist, the interest in travel was sparked and furthered her draw to different cultures and languages.
As the years passed, Courtney travelled to Thailand, Sicily, Portugal, and taught children abroad in Istanbul, Turkey; Ooty, India and Magdeburg, Germany. Reminiscing on her time in India, she flashbacked to the moment where monkeys raided her apartment and she remarked, “where else would I experience something like this?” Experiences like this and her passion for teaching and travelling led her to her career teaching abroad. Once her journey was fulfilled overseas, Courtney wanted to find a school that would still give her the international experience. With USC being a leader in the number of International students, she knew USC would be her new home. As she works towards her Master’s Degree in Education, she wants to focus on transitioning into an administrative role in international education.
Courtney began her stint with the Office of international Services in August of 2017. Once the title of program assistant was hers, she hit the ground running. She knows OIS dedicates itself to the International student population and she wanted the experience of coordinating events and making every student feel a part of the USC community. Her role is to coordinate and lead events on and off campus. She finds the creation of each program “enriching” because she is able to “stay in touch with the International community while learning more about event programming.” Each event reminds her of how important it is to have OIS events and continue to meet new people from all backgrounds. Of all of the events that have passed, her favorite was the trip to Venice Beach which had approximately 35 students in attendance. When she is not focused on school and creating amazing events, Courtney loves hiking, water color painting, and cooking new recipes from across the world. Now you know a little about the woman being the scenes.
Author: Cydney Gillon- OIS Communications Editor, Class of 2018