Keeping up with Allison Shaw

Along with many residential professors from the main campus in New York, Professor Allison Shaw arrived in Singapore during Summer ’18, where she taught COM 231: Principles of Persuasion in SIM-UB. While six weeks is a short time for one to get to know a person, Professor Shaw’s bubbly personality tells a lot about her. I had the privilege to sit down and chat with Professor Shaw right before she flew back to New York. Interestingly, what started as a typical interview question involving her typical day in school, our conversation eventually morphed into something enthralling, one filled with snippets of her past travel adventures.

What inspired you to take up the role of a college professor?

Well, I love learning. Gaining new skills and challenging myself are just some of the things I really enjoy. Not necessarily only from textbooks, but from all sorts of different things! I think that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be a professor because I want to get other people excited about learning as well!

Can you describe a typical day in your life as a professor?

It varies quite a bit, depending on the classes I have. Besides giving lessons, professors in UB tend to do a lot of research. For me, the first thing I do in the morning is to check and reply my emails, it also includes prepping your lectures if they are not already done.

I would remain after class for some consultation sessions with the students and right after that, I would head back to the office or home to “crash out”! Thankfully, giving lectures has become second nature to me and I recover fast the day after.

In terms of teaching, what is one life goal/motto you follow and encourage students to have?

Depending on the class, I have kinda like different life goals and objectives. In the US, I’ve taught Interpersonal Communication and that’s a class for a lot of freshmen and transfer students to UB, so I do teach them to manage their own time and schedule right.

In Persuasion classes in Singapore, my goal is to get people to become critical thinkers, who would stop and think about the reasons behind engaging in certain behaviors. Overall, I want the students to be able to stop and think, “Why did I just say yes to that request?” or “Why am I always doing this?”

So, now on to a slightly more fun topic… We will be talking about traveling! Do you enjoy traveling?

YES! I LOVE traveling! I feel that as I got older, I’ve noticed that I no longer appreciate certain aspects of traveling as much as I did when I was younger. Back then, I would be full of energy, my body wouldn’t be falling apart, and it was easier surviving jet lag. Now, there are some things that I can’t possibly do anymore. BUT, traveling to me is a really great way to meet people and it’s a good way for self-reflection.

Wow! So, from your travels, what is one particularly memorable moment you have experienced whilst traveling?

There are so many! Different countries, different moments. But one of the most memorable moments happened in Israel! It is not a very common tourist destination, especially among Americans but I heard it’s a really awesome country to visit.

In Israel, there is this brick on a wall, which many locals believed Jesus touched before his crucifixion, when he stopped to rest while carrying the cross! Others go there to touch that brick so that they can feel connected to Jesus, so it was more of a religious experience for them.

For me, it felt like I was connected to humanity, touching a spot millions of people have touched as well. It was really cool, especially for an interpersonal scholar to see and feel something that virtually “connects” so many people. So, I think that for me that was my really significant travel moment that I will never forget!

Many people believe that traveling broadens your perspective, and whoever accompanies you is one of the most important things. So, who is your best travel companion?

My husband is definitely my best travel companion, and I know that probably sounds super clichéd. We have been traveling together ever since we first started dating. During some of our adventures together, such as our hiking and camping trips, we were really pushed to our limits. So, I believe that whoever accompanies you is really important and can help make you stronger.

My husband is definitely my best friend and the only person I will ever need to travel with for the rest of my life. Both of us have a good sense of adventure, we’re both pretty easy-going, and we both look at the world in awe. We always try to get our friends to travel with us, but none of them want to. I think it’s because we like to rough it a little bit more than others do at our age: we still backpack through Europe like we are 23, but in reality, we’re 36 years old! We think that this is when the adventures begin, so he’s definitely my best travel companion by far.

What is one interesting travel story you and your husband embarked on together?

On our honeymoon, we were really lucky we got a month off after we finished school and before starting our jobs, so we decided to spend that month traveling. We lived out in a car for around three weeks all over US and we drove from Zion National Park to the Grand Canyon!

Back in 2012, the GPS technology wasn’t great. We found ourselves in the middle of nowhere one day, and our GPS was telling us to drive into a desert-like area that had no roads: it was nothing but a sandy and gravelly pathway.

I was driving when we “bottomed out”. I turned the jeep around, and somehow, I managed to get ourselves stuck in a sandpit! My husband was shouting, “What are we going to do?!” He was panicking and I was trying keeping my cool. So, I said, “Give me the poop shovel.” It’s basically a shovel we use to hide our poop; it was only about 6 inches long, so it took us a while to dig the wheels out with it.

Fortunately, two trucks came out of nowhere and the drivers helped us. After 30 minutes, we managed to get the jeep out of the ditch. When my husband and I got back into the car, he had already calmed down but it was my turn to panic. I was like, “We almost died in the desert!” If the drivers did not turn up, we would not have survived.

Looking back, that was kind of fun and we still laugh about it occasionally.

So, do you have any special traveling hacks that you vouch for?

It depends on the trip! I’m a hyper-organized person, so I have different spreadsheets for different types of trips. These spreadsheets contain a list of the things to be packed which I keep accessible in Google Drive. So, one life hack is to make yourself a checklist and keep it updated!

For camping trips, my husband and I keep everything in… Tupperware containers! I use two—one for toiletries and cleaning products, and another to keep food. Replenish everything after you return from your trip, so keep a look-out for essentials, such as batteries or sunscreen.

I also keep foreign currencies of US$20 value from every country as spare cash as it helps during emergencies. One example is, when I get there and need to take a cab. This also means that I have a few US$100 worth of random currencies in my little money bag!

What is one tip for female students who want to travel solo? Would you recommend them to trust their gut in foreign lands?

Honestly, I have not traveled anywhere really unsafe. But, I would have to say that when women travel by themselves, they should be educated about where they are going and what they are doing, because there are different safety issues in different countries. We should know where our embassy is, and to inform trusted others of your itinerary when you are headed overseas.

At the same time, there are a lot of cultural variations in different countries. Some people might think that certain actions can be seen as aggressive or scary, but it is actually due to the differences in culture and they don’t intend it to be threatening.

I feel that social media makes it really convenient to keep an eye on people! Once when I was backpacking, I would have to pay to use an Internet café to check my emails and check in with my loved ones. But now, we can use Facebook and Instagram to keep them updated!

So, where are you off to next?

Hmmm… Australia two years from now. However, my husband and I are thinking of traveling somewhere else during Christmas! Both of us would love to spend Christmas in the Middle East; This is usually when nobody goes overseas during that period. Last year, we left for Israel on the Eve and spent Christmas night in Paris, which was wonderful! Interestingly, when we were in the Middle East, no one was celebrating Christmas, as though it was just another day. It felt so unique!

A final question! What advice would you give students who are saving up to travel?

That’s a great question! When I was in graduate school, I was making very little money. My husband and I wanted to pay for our own wedding and our monthlong honeymoon. In order to save money, we decided to stop eating out. If anyone of us recommended to eat out, we would call the other out, and place the money we would otherwise spend into our savings.

If we had to make an exception, we would go somewhere inexpensive and share a meal. That would mean $15 saved, and the other $5 into food. Being thrifty this way turned it into a game, and I personally feel this will help motivate you into saving more money.