Biography - Gabriela STELCIKOVA

Gabriela grew up in a family of educators in the former Czechoslovakia, and she was destined to become a teacher herself. Her father, a history and geography teacher and a master of originality, eschewed the typical Cinderella-like fairy tales and tucked his daughter in every night with self-produced stories of the King Charles IV, Prague’s Defenestration or even the Iran hostage crisis.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that Gabriela began lecturing her kindergarten mates about the world’s affairs at a tender age of five and was ready to pack up and discover the world herself. She made it happen, and in the early 1990s, Gabriela relocated to the United States and graduated with the highest honors from Norwich University in Vermont where she earned Masters in Arts in Diplomacy. Her specialization is terrorism, and her research focus includes terrorism in sports, media coverage of terrorism, and the current administration’s anti and counter-terrorism policy. In addition to sharing her passion for international relations with her students, Gabriela is preparing to pursue her doctorate studies and continues being a student herself.

Gabriela maintains residences in both Northern California and the Czech Republic. Her best job ever was coordinating relief aid projects for international children's charity. She is a devoted sports fan and starts every Sunday morning watching Spanish ‘La Liga’ soccer matches.