My name is Sarah Jane Owen. I am a Texan, born and raised in Waco, and no… Neither I nor anyone else in my family were associated with the Branch Davidian siege back in 1993. Despite the negative associations the city has with the infamous cult, Waco is also known for its fine Tex-Mex food, Blue Bell Ice Cream, excellent whitetail hunting, and for my alma mater: Baylor University. To get the truest Texas experience though, you’ll have to come visit the Owen family and let us spoil you with some of our southern hospitality and delicious, home-cooked food!

I may be a small-town Wacoan, but I have also toured the world: my first taste of international travel was when I spent the summer of 2002 with my grandparents, who --following retirement-- lived in Israel. I traveled the entire country north to south and east to west—I was hooked to exploring. Waco, my home, a place where I rarely met a stranger and where some of my best memories were made, was no longer big enough to contain me: enticing new lands and cultures were calling my name! During my undergrad, I studied abroad for the entirety of 2007; in the spring I studied in Florence, Italy and I took advantage of the weekends to discover the sites in Europe. That following summer, I studied sustainable development in Israel and in Jordan, and (becoming more and more enamored with the Middle East) during fall of that year I lived with an Arab Muslim family while I studied Arabic in Amman, Jordan. After college, eager for a new challenge, and looking to grow as a person and a leader, I enlisted in the Marine Corps. During my 5 years of service, I would become an intelligence analyst, deploy twice to Afghanistan, and use my training and skills to keep fellow deployed American military personnel as safe and as informed as possible.

Now I’m thrilled for the next great adventure: earning an MBA. I look forward to reentering the realm of academia, and in particular to the intellectual stimulation of graduate level coursework. As an extrovert, I look forward to student clubs and networking, and as a lover of travel I cannot wait to participate in a study abroad program.