Travel bloggers, step aside. Kelsey Gnagy probably has you beat.

Kelsey grew up not just traveling the world but also living in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Japan. In between moves, her family would always come back to Texas hill country for the holidays. That’s where Kelsey fell in love with Texas State and ended up getting her degree.

“I was lucky enough to get scholarships and make it a no-brainer to go to Texas State,” Kelsey said.

After finishing high school in Alaska, she packed everything into her Chevy and made the three day drive down to San Marcos with her dog.

“When I started at Texas State, I swore I would end up working in academics,” Kelsey said. “So that’s why I got my degree in Anthropology.”

Kelsey studied hard and graduated with a 4.0, but looking back she said she wishes she would’ve spent less time studying and more time having fun.

“You go to school and everyone congratulates you for that,” Kelsey said. “But I remember sitting in Bill Poston’s Housley class and he was the first person who called me out for it.”

In a room of around 30 other people, Bill asked Kelsey “Okay, but what are you actually doing with your life?” That conversation inspired her to take time off from school to study in Ethiopia and then Orlando for the Disney College Program. After that, she came back to Texas State to finish her degree and her senior thesis.

Kelsey was about 95% of the way through her Anthropology degree when she realized she didn’t actually want to be a professor or go to graduate school. Instead, she used her Disney College Program connections and got a management job at Epcot.

“The number of drunk people who tried to climb up the Mexico pyramid was incredible,” she said.

After years managing at Disney World, she moved back to Texas and started working in marketing at Kalypso. Now, she’s moved industries and is working in Learning and Development at HubSpot.

“Skills really are transferable,” Kelsey said. “Career jumps aren’t as scary as they seem.”

Now that Kelsey is educating adults, she’s come back around to that Anthropology degree she thought she’d never use. She’s able to integrate her various career experiences and do something she really loves. That, and raise chickens.

Alumni Profile: Kelsey Gnagy