Chloe Treaster was adopted from China as an infant and grew up traveling extensively with her family in the United States and abroad. She developed a love of landscape photography and exploring different cultures. After college, she backpacked solo through several countries in Asia and Oceania. Currently living in Denver, she enjoys hiking and camping in national parks. She hopes to continue her education and travels through a study abroad program in Madrid.

1. MY JOURNEY
THROUGH
TRAVEL
CHLOE TREASTER

2. I N T RO
My name is Chloe Treaster and I am an
adopted Chinese American.
I have grown up in both Manhattan and
Miami and now living in Denver, Colorado.
I grew up playing soccer and I love to ski,
hike, travel and take landscape
photography.
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3. E A R LY DAYS
ADOP T ION
• At 8 months I was adopted from an orphanage in
Shanghai, China.
• My adoptive mother and I flew to New York City, where I
grew up, going to public schools in Manhattan.
FIRST TRIP
• Soon after my arrival in the United States, I was off on my
first foreign adventure—sailing on a small ship around
various islands of the Galapagos in Ecuador.
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4. L E A R N I N G AT A
YO U N G AG E
• Almost every year of my childhood we would travel to a new country for a
week or two.
• New York City opened me up to the variety of nationalities and customs
of people everywhere in the world.
• But travel abroad really showed the rich tapestry in detail and whetted
my appetite for more.
• Even before I could understand, I became aware that languages
sounded different from one country to another, and food varied from
place to place.
• Later I came to appreciate exposure to different cultures and to our
history.
• This experience made me determined to continue to explore the world
with an open and curious mind and acceptance of everyone.
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5. L E A R N I N G AT A
YO U N G AG E
• My parents and I visited England, France, Greece, Italy,
Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scotland.
• I learned to love art, particularly the French
Impressionists.
• I imagined the gory battles fought in the Coliseum in
Rome for the Emperor.
• I admired the architecture of the Acropolis in Athens.
• In the mosques of Istanbul I learned about the Islamic
religion and customs.
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6. C O L L E G E Y E A R S
• In college I studied filmmaking in Prague
one summer.
• I found that very few people spoke English
outside of the very center of the old town.
• It was fun, though, trying to communicate
with hand gestures and facial expressions.
• I learned that humor in the Czech Republic
was a lot dryer than American humor.
• For example the movies that we made
during study abroad were humorous to
us, but the Czech teachers were not as
amused.
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7. C O L L E G E Y E A R S
• Traveling throughout my college years opened
me up to the world of photography, specifically
landscape photography.
• A new camera improved my vision and inspired
a more penetrating engagement with my
surroundings.
• I followed paths up the mountains of
Switzerland and viewed the fjords of Norway
and learned I was good at perspective,
highlighting shapes and celebrating color.
• These images fed a deeper interest in the
landscape artists whose work I encountered in
the great museums.
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8. P O S T C O L L E G E
• I backpacked alone around New Zealand, Australia,
Thailand, Vietnam and China after graduation.
• I had always been outgoing, but this trip taught me
how to be even more proactive in talking to people I
didn’t know on buses and trains and making friends
at hostels.
• I felt pushed outside my comfort zone.
• For example practicing relaxing while eating by
myself at a restaurant.
• The poverty I observed in Thailand and Vietnam was
more shocking than anything I had seen in New York,
and it made me feel both sad and grateful to be so
privileged.
• Generations of families live together and in cramped
walk-ups with very few furnishings or amenities.
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Friends I met at hostel in Auckland, NZ

9. P O S T C O L L E G E
• My first job was a lucky break with American
Airlines in Revenue Management analytics.
• It offered free standby travel anywhere
American Airlines flies.
• I learned how flight schedules and pricing may
be affected by the results of an election,
political strife and international hostilities.
• I also discovered the fun of traveling anywhere
at the drop of a hat.
• People who work in the industry and love to
globe-trot think nothing of grabbing an empty
seat on an overnight flight to Chile for a mere
24 hours on the ground.
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10. C OV I D Y E A R S
• The Pandemic invaded the country in March 2020 and
foreclosed international travel.
• I moved from Dallas to Denver for a new job, with Vail
Resorts. I immediately made friends with a group of
people who loved to ski and hike.
• While many compatriots locked themselves in for fear of
catching the Covid virus, we were able to organize
camping trips to a dozen of America’s National Parks.
• Serendipitously my new employer had introduced me to a
surprising new love: I discovered that I was born to hike
and camp.
• As a child of the big city, I had no inkling of the pleasures
of outdoor life and the awe inspired by the grandeur of
nature in the West.
• I am developing a curiosity about geology and astronomy
that never occurred to me before I pitched a tent in the
Rocky Mountains and slept under the stars.
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11. C O N C LU S I O N
• I have learned a lot from my lifetime of
travels and hope to continue learning,
exploring and growing.
• Curiosity is one of the most important
attributes a person can have within their life
and their work.
• Studying abroad in Madrid will allow me to
continue growing professionally as well as
personally and I hope that I will have the
opportunity to do so in one of my favorite
cities.
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12. T H A N K Y O U F O R
C O N S I D E R I N G M E F O R
T H E D U A L D E G R E E M B A
A N D B U S I N E S S
A N A L Y T I C S A N D B I G
D A T A P R O G R A M
Chloe Treaster
Chloe.treaster@gmail.com
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