Transformative Travel Unlocks a World of Opportunities

Growing up in rural Texas, archaeologist wasn’t even on the list of potential career choices for one high school student. That all changed this past summer with a private viewing of the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, and it all started with a first stamp in her passport.

Jenna Fagnan ’95 and Sarah Widoff Williams ’95, P’27 know the impact a travel experience like this can have on a young woman’s life. Fagnan grew up in a small town in coastal Oregon, and Williams was born and raised in a small town in central Pennsylvania. The two met as first-year students at Trinity University, but their time traveling together outside the country solidified their friendship. After Williams completed a semester studying abroad in Europe in 1994, Fagnan joined her for a backpacking trip that planted the seed for a nonprofit organization that offers a global travel experience to high school girls from rural communities in the United States.

Jenna Fagnan and Sarah Widoff Williams’ European backpacking adventure in 1994 taught them teamwork and gave them the self-confidence to pursue challenges and push boundaries in their careers.

Fast forward to 2024, when that seed has taken the shape of First Stamp. Fagnan and Williams’ mission with First Stamp “is to bring the world closer together through experiences in another place and culture, while raising girls’ sights about how they might fit into both their community and the greater world.” Open to girls entering the summer between their sophomore and junior year of high school, First Stamp centers around a two-week international trip, with all costs of the trip, including airfare, lodging, activities, and meals, covered by the organization.

“The amount of philanthropic funding that rural communities get versus cities is astounding. These types of opportunities just don’t come to rural communities that often,” Williams says.

The inaugural group of First Stamp adventurers included 15 high school girls from Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas, with the trip taking them to different locations in England and France. After virtual information sessions, the group met in person for the first time for a two-day orientation at Trinity, where they explored campus, participated in icebreakers, created their travel journals, learned how to exchange money, practiced taking public transportation, and lived in Miller Hall.

The First Stamp 2024 experience began in San Antonio, where the girls learned how to safely utilize public transportation. They practiced by taking the VIA bus downtown to see the Riverwalk and the Alamo.

“All of the girls talk about how if we had just gotten to London and started the trip there, it would have been very different. We were already a cohesive unit by the time we got on that plane, and that makes a very big difference,” Williams says. “A lot of these girls hadn’t left their family before, so it was a little bit easier of a transition this way. Plus, I think it’s invaluable that they got to be on a college campus.”

Fagnan agrees and points out that some of the girls had probably not considered leaving their rural communities to attend college, but their stay at Trinity allowed them to experience a college campus as a comfortable, safe environment.

“I think the vision of university can be incredibly intimidating, especially if you do come from a smaller community. I think this really was valuable and eye-opening for them to see what a warm, welcoming community a university like Trinity can be,” Fagnan says.

As part of their orientation, the First Stamp group lived on campus in Miller Hall.

Fagnan and Williams reflected on the value of Trinity’s residential campus life when they stayed in the residence hall along with the girls during the orientation.

“It allows young people to have a built-in community, a safe space where you can develop friend groups through late-night discussions and study sessions,” Fagnan says.

“From the parent angle,” Williams adds, “I couldn't be happier that my child is at a place where there’s a requirement to live on campus for three years. I am completely convinced that it builds a different and more long-lasting community.”

As they reflected on the residential life experience Trinity offers, Fagnan and Williams expressed gratitude for the liberal arts education they received from Trinity.

“Thank goodness for the liberal arts!” Fagnan exclaims. “Thank goodness I was at Trinity because I thought I should be doing chemical engineering and came in with a chemical engineering scholarship. I quickly realized I was dead wrong, but I was able to move into international business and minor in Japanese.”

Williams credits professors like Mackenzie Brown, Ph.D., with giving her a deeper understanding of where people come from in their decision making and equipping her with critical thinking skills, which she finds to be more important than ever today.

“I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to major in. After I toyed around with what had to be my seventh major,” Williams laughs, “I landed on religion and communication. I really did get the full array of Trinity offerings, from the sciences to the arts, and I think my takeaway from that experience is I can’t say enough about a liberal arts education and the ability to try new things.”

Williams did not have plans to study abroad before she arrived at Trinity, but she appreciates how well it integrated with her residential education.

“It doesn't set you back on any academic requirements, and because we were living on campus, that made it easier, too, to kind of just shift back in because I didn’t have to worry about an apartment lease and utility bills off campus or anything like that,” Williams explains. “There was never a stumbling block or a hurdle at Trinity that made it anything but doable. Studying abroad absolutely shaped my life’s trajectory.”

Fagnan and Williams traveled to Turkey in October 2023 with friends from Trinity’s Class of 1995. Left to right: Pam Clark Hicks, Ginnie Keller McConn, Sarah Williams, Kirsten Christopherson Moody, Sinem Iber Szygenda, and Jenna Fagnan.

Just as Trinity’s liberal arts education and their time abroad prepared them to thrive in an interconnected world, Fagnan and Williams hope First Stamp encourages young women to think more broadly about what their impact in the world can be.

“Young women who are in fairly confined towns are just not able to see a lot. It does sometimes limit your thinking about what you can do—the careers that are available to you, the college opportunities that are available to you, the people that you can be exposed to,” Williams says. “The whole purpose of First Stamp is not to change minds, but rather to open them.”

Fagnan and Williams believe that the success of First Stamp would not have been possible without the support of Trinity and cite a continuing partnership with their alma mater as imperative to the growth of First Stamp. In addition to hosting the orientation at Trinity, Angela Breidenstein ’91, M’92, Ed.D., Yvette Peña ’18, M’19, and four new Master of Arts in Teaching alumni—Daisy Rodriguez ’23, M’24, Maeve Armand ’23, M’24, Olivia Roybal ’19, M’24, and Sophie Zertuche ’23, M’24—served as mentors and assisted with the program. Peña and the four MAT alumni traveled with Williams and the girls as small group leaders; First Stamp covered their expenses and provided them with a stipend for participating in further leadership.

“Through First Stamp, our MAT graduates were able to think about how to develop a strong learning community and put that into practice,” Breidenstein says. “We have to give the International School of the Americas a lot of credit for being in the roots of this because we learned a lot from our colleagues there. In fact, Yvette has gone on about eight trips with the International School already, so she was able to draw experience from that.”

For some of the girls, First Stamp marked the first time they had ever traveled by airplane.

By working with First Stamp, the four recent MAT alumni returned home even more confident in their abilities going into their first year of teaching.

“The fact that these new teachers spent two weeks 24/7 with a group of high school students outside of the U.S. and just crushed it convinced them that they can pretty much handle anything that’s thrown their way,” Williams says.

The first leg of the trip took the group to London, where they got to visit sights such as the Tower of London.

Breidenstein remembers having lunch with the First Stamp group in Mabee Dining Hall and hearing conversations between the high school girls about what it was like growing up in Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

“It was great how they found what they had in common coming from these areas that are so geographically different while also discovering what made their similar rural settings different, such as the dominant industry or career paths,” Breidenstein says.

During their time abroad, Peña could not help but admire the bravery of the girls.

“This was a risk for a lot of the girls. It’s scary at the beginning to say yes to something like this. A lot of them had never been on a plane or spent time in a bustling major city, but they kept saying ‘yes’ throughout the trip. Whether it was trying escargot for the first time or adjusting to a change in the itinerary, they were just constantly saying ‘yes,’” Peña proudly shares. “It wasn’t lost on them how big of an opportunity this was, and they committed themselves to try things. That was transformational for them, but also for us as teachers.”

First Stamp received special access to the facilities of Chelsea Football Club in London.

First Stamp provided several unforgettable experiences for the girls. In London, they toured places like Windsor Castle, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and even received behind-the-scenes access to the House of Parliament. They then visited the English countryside, stopping to explore the birthplace of William Shakespeare and the iconic Stonehenge, before traveling to Paris via the Eurostar train, where they ventured to the top of the Eiffel Tower, walked down the Champs-Élysées, and were treated to a personal tour of the Louvre.

“The president of the American Friends of the Louvre had lunch with us, and one of the things he told the girls that really felt like a pinnacle of this experience was that every single one of them deserved the seat at the table that they had. There they were sitting in this beautiful restaurant in the Louvre having this incredible meal, and it wasn't luck. It wasn't a fluke. They deserved to be there, and they deserve everything that's coming their way,” Williams recalls. “I thought that was such a powerful message especially for young women to hear at that very formative time in their lives.”

First Stamp was treated to a personal tour of the Louvre by the American Friends of the Louvre.

Breidenstein followed the group’s trip on social media, and she paid close attention to the tour guides and presenters interacting with the girls.

“I think every place they went it was mutually beneficial because these people talking with the girls recognized that this is the next generation of leaders, and these forward-facing young women were soaking up everything that was being said and finding inspiration,” Breidenstein says.

The First Stamp group enjoyed meeting a Beefeater and a King’s Guard in London.

One First Stamp participant shared that “traveling has shifted my perspective.” For Fagnan and Williams, that means mission accomplished. One girl told them that she always goes to Port Aransas with her family for her birthday. Next year, however, she is thinking about traveling to Thailand thanks to the self-confidence and sense of adventure she gained from First Stamp. Another girl mentioned that experiencing different cultures abroad will help her have more meaningful, open-minded conversations, particularly with those who hold different opinions.

“We all come from different places, but at the end of the day, we’re all human and very much the same. Sometimes we forget that, but I think travel reminds us of that very simple principle,” Fagnan says.

First Stamp participated in a pastry lesson on eclairs and macaroons at La Cuisine in Paris.

First Stamp applications for Summer 2025 will open on November 15, 2024. For questions about the program or to nominate a rural U.S. high school to be considered for First Stamp participation, please contact Williams at @email. To see more photos from the Summer 2024 trip, follow @first.stamp2024 and @firststampfoundation on Instagram.