TIA SHARP
Portland State University, M.Ed., World Language French Education (Secondary)
Portland State University, M.A., French
Montana State University, B.A., French and Francophone Studies

While at Montana State University, Tia explored the Maghreb and received an Undergraduate Scholar’s Grant to travel to Morocco. Based in the High Atlas Mountains, she taught both English and French to primary school children. She then spent her senior year abroad in Montpellier, France, studying and giving English lessons to the director of International Studies at her host university. After graduation, she worked as une fille au pair off the Tuscan coast of Italy, and as an English assistant at a French high school in Nîmes. Here, she taught many classes and prepared selected students to compete in English at a regional debate against other high schools. Returning home to the Pacific Northwest after having spent almost three years abroad, Tia pursued a master’s degree in French, and more recently a Master of Education degree. She currently teaches French at a high school in Vancouver, Washington. She loves laughing with her students and walking the beach with her dog, Mademoiselle Niki Princess Sassy Frassy. Tia has led both of Putney’s Language Learning France programs.

ELLIOT DAWES
Vanderbilt University, M.Ed., International Education Policy and Management (in progress)
Elon University, B.A., International Studies and French, minor in Leadership Studies

Before attending Elon University, Elliot deferred his acceptance to pursue a gap year. In this time he climbed to Everest Base Camp, taught English in Cambodia, engaged in a native wildlife conservation program in New Zealand, and spent a semester living with a host family in France, learning the language and culture that he grew to love. Inspired by his experiences, he earned a dual bachelor’s in international studies and French, with a minor in leadership studies. Elliot spent his college summers interning in France, and a semester abroad in the vibrant city of Grenoble, nestled in the Alps. Still itching with the travel bug after graduation, he spent a year abroad, this time fully funded by a long and grueling summer working in the Alaskan fisheries and a stint as a waiter in Paris, in eyesight of Notre Dame. After a few years working in the private sector and for nonprofits in international education, Elliot is currently finishing his master’s degree at Vanderbilt, where he works with international student services and outbound study abroad programs along with his research on the gap year industry. He is fluent in French.