Elementary education major Nina Nordstrom ‘26 spent part of her senior year in Spain through a SigX study away. Now, she hopes to use what she learned abroad and at Gustavus to teach internationally again.
“Do not touch the monkeys!” On a hike in Gibraltar on the south coast of Spain, Nina Nordstrom ‘26 and her two roommates read each sign warning them of the wild monkeys that inhabit the rocky terrain. “Do not feed the monkeys!” “You will be fined!”
But as they reached the top, a sneaky primate the size of a kindergartener scaled her body, plucked her sunglasses off her head, and flung them down the cliff. “That was definitely a call home. ‘Mom, you’re never going to believe what happened,’” recalls Nina, who graduated in May with a degree in elementary education and a minor in studio art.
Last October through December, Nina and two additional Gustavus students were chosen to student-teach at an international school in Sotogrande, Spain, as part of the Global Educators Program. This opportunity translated as Nina’s SigX (Signature Experience), the signature Gustavus program designed to integrate real-world experiential learning across internship, research, course practicum, and study away pathways with faculty-guided reflection and a peer cohort community.
Of the four SigX pathways, Nina chose study away, where she experienced the added bonus of teaching in a classroom while abroad, connecting her academic experiences to a real-life setting.
Nina was assigned a primary three classroom—equivalent to a second grade classroom in the United States. “It was a dream spot for me,” says Nina, who had already student-taught in several elementary classrooms in Saint Peter, Mankato, and Eagle Lake, Minnesota.
While relocating to Spain during the last fall semester of her senior year could have felt daunting, Nina says she felt supported from both her colleagues abroad and back home. “
That’s what's so amazing about the education program at Gustavus. Your professors are so invested in you,” says Nina, who had consistent check-ins with her cohort of other Gustie student teachers to discuss lesson plans and what they could improve on as educators.
Now a first-year art teacher at two elementary schools in Mankato, Nina credits her time in Spain for expanding her view on teaching.
“This SigX experience pushed me to be able to handle two schools,” she says. “It inspired me so much that I would now really love to teach internationally.”
She plans to attend a global educators fair in January, which has offered placements to Gustie alums as exchange teachers in Guatemala, Australia, and South Africa. “I’m not picky,” says Nina of where she could end up.
That openness was instilled in her as soon as she stepped foot on the Hill. “I was pushed to not settle. You’re here to grow and get out of your comfort zone,” says Nina. “Every professor and peer that I’ve met has helped me reach who I am today. They mean it when they say you’re a Gustie for life—it's so ingrained within me.”
Now as a post-grad, she has a strong support system to encourage her next goals of teaching internationally.
“Gustavus has allowed me to grow so much in four years and having the SigX experience in Spain to cap off those four years really tied it all up with a bow,” says Nina. “I feel capable and confident in the rooms that I enter because of Gustavus, my experiences, and the people I met along the way.”
Nina and her friend Erin Farrell '26, who also student-taught at the primary school, on an adventure in Granada, Spain.
The monkey who stole Nina's sunglasses during her hike.
IMAGES: (left) Nina and her friend Erin Farrell '26, who also student-taught at the primary school, on an adventure in Granada, Spain. (right) The monkey who stole Nina's sunglasses during her hike.
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