Joy Bailey
Bailey, second from left, gets a look at the screening room at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Students use the room for teleconferencing and developing video with Blue Ray technology.
Joy Bailey, program director for workforce and continuing education, enjoys lunch with faculty and staff from the Seoul Institute of the Arts in Seoul, Korea, where she recently spoke. Jae Soh, director of the Art and Technology Center at the school, sits across from her.
Joy Bailey knows first-hand how important it is to make connections and build personal relationships.
Last month, Bailey, program director for workforce and continuing education and adjunct instructor in cultural studies, traveled to South Korea and spoke to students at the Seoul Institute of the Arts.
How’d she get the opportunity?
Connections. And a little bit of “dumb luck,” as Bailey puts it.
She made it a point to keep in touch with a friend from college, even though she had moved to Korea. When her friend named Bailey godmother of her child, she just had to visit. Her friend’s husband mentioned Bailey’s upcoming visit at his workplace, the Seoul Institute for the Arts, and the school couldn’t wait to have her come in and speak.
The students at the institute were very career-driven, Bailey said. And many of them aspired to be filmmakers, designers or actors.
So, she spoke to the students about becoming marketable in a global society and shared with them her take on success: a big part of it relies on relationships, not just the work you’ve done.
“Education isn’t just out of a textbook,” she said. Real-life experiences and personal relationships play an important role as well.
As evidenced from her trip, connections can get you far – literally.
Bailey said she considers it her duty as a cultural studies teacher to make trips like these, so she can share her personal experiences with her students.
In her summer cultural studies class, students can expect to hear all about her recent trip.
“Oh, they’ll get an earful of Korea,” Bailey said.
Next on her “to visit” list?
“Canada, probably.”
