Podcast: Engaged By Design
Episode: Part 2 — Faith, Culture & Courage Abroad
Guest: Dr. Sylvia Nemmers — scientist, educator, world traveler, multilingual mother, and author of Happy Now.

Episode Summary

In this second installment of our three-part conversation, Dr. Sylvia Nemmers takes us around the globe—Pakistan, Jordan, Greece, and beyond—to explore what happens when identity, faith, disability, and culture intersect.

She shares how falling in love with a Pakistani student reshaped her worldview, how a spiritual moment in St. Peter’s Basilica led to an unexpected conversion to Islam, and how living across cultures forced her to confront assumptions she didn’t know she held. Sylvia speaks openly about learning Arabic through immersion with children, navigating strict gender norms, raising her own children across borders, and discovering humility as a transformative leadership tool.

This episode illuminates what it means to be a cultural learner, not just a cultural observer. It shows that empathy can only flourish when we stop assuming our own lens is universal.

Key Topics

• Falling in love across cultures
  – Meeting international students
  – Recognizing shared identity as “outsiders” in academic settings
  – Navigating family expectations and early marriage
  – Beginning life in Pakistan
• Conversion to Islam
  – The pivotal moment in St. Peter’s Basilica
  – Faith as recognition rather than instruction
  – Joy, continuity, and spiritual belonging
• Life in Pakistan
  – NGO work in the Northwest Territory
  – Navigating conservative norms (“Don’t act blind; no one will respect you”)
  – Learning agency and self-advocacy in unfamiliar systems
• Jordan: Lessons in Humility
  – Raising children in multilingual, multigenerational households
  – Misunderstandings with in-laws and the power of listening
  – Learning Arabic through play and daily life
  – Major cultural adjustment: food, family, and rhythm of life
• Greece: A different kind of freedom
  – Experiences outside extended family structure
  – Observing different models of happiness and social life
  – Gaining a more global understanding of “normal”
• Universal Lesson: Unlearning Assumptions
  – Recognizing that each culture has internal logic and dignity
  – Learning to ask questions instead of drawing conclusions
  – Seeing disability differently in each country
  – Realizing humility is the beginning of wisdom

Quotes

• “When you live in another culture, you stop assuming the way you see the world is the only way.”
• “People have grabbed me on the street, and I’ve said, ‘I’ve been blind a long time. I’m very good at it.’”
• “As educators, we have expertise and resources—but the person we’re working with is the expert on themselves.”
• “Humility is what keeps curiosity alive.”

Reflection Question

What assumptions about people or cultures might you need to unlearn in order to see more clearly?

Resources

• Book: Happy Now — Shattering the Myth of Happily Ever After (Amazon - https://amzn.to/49PHHYZ).
• Sylvia’s speaking & consulting: BeyondLimits.cc.
• Engaged By Design: MACRO Leadership resources.