Australia & New Zealand
EDUCATION
B.A. in Religion, Smith College, 2010Intensive Study of Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy and Hermeneutics, Central University for Tibetan Studies, 2010 (India)
STAFF PROFILE
A New England girl at heart, Mary Kate has been traveling and working around the world since high school, when she made up her mind that summer would not be complete without hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. That summer in Peru was a formative exposure to living and learning within a different country and culture, and since then she has continued to travel, work, and study throughout Latin America and in Ireland, China, and India.
MK earned her B.A. in religion with a minor in Spanish from Smith College. While in college, she spent six months studying local religious diversity in the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she navigated life in an urban jungle for the first time and survived the lack of coniferous forests by taking frequent trips out to the mountains of western Argentina and Patagonia.
A second study abroad opportunity lead MK to India, where she studied Buddhist philosophy at the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, India. Swept up by the sounds and colors of life in this chaotic, ancient city, and carried away by the thrilling energy of Buddhist pilgrimage, MK returned this year to live and work in Varanasi. Teaching arts classes for a small, alternative primary school, she helped her young students explore the world and their own imaginations by learning about the arts and music of different cultures. She was also fortunate enough to attend annual teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the second time, mingling with throngs of pilgrims from all over the world.
Pursuing adventure a little closer to home, MK set off last summer to discover the United States, by bicycle. She pedaled from Boston to Santa Barbara with the organization Bike & Build, building homes and raising money and awareness for affordable housing initiatives across the USA. Getting to know the diversity of life and landscape that calls America home was an eye-opening experience that showed that the stories, histories, and traditions of a different culture can be found just down the road, and not always across oceans.
While at home in southern New Hampshire, MK volunteers at a local folk art museum, researching its collection of artifacts from around the world and assisting with art classes. She also enjoys riding bikes, swimming, and eating ice cream when it’s warm, and snuggling up in front of a wood stove with her two black labs and a good book when it’s cold.
