Bell has passport ready as retirement nears

Susan Bell
Susan Bell

Don't be fooled by Susan Bell's calm demeanor, there's an adventurer inside.

Her earliest adventures were as a child spending summers in Missouri - listening to the wildlife and running free and barefoot - away from her home in the state of California.

These days, Bell's treks have taken her many times to Europe, Africa and Mexico, though the Russellville High School librarian has hopes to visit Asia after she retires in May.

"I'm willing to go anywhere," Bell said. "When I take someone to the airport, I want to go too."

She attributes her need to travel to a "genetic wanderlust," following the footsteps of her mother, who was a travel agent, and her maternal grandfather who was always going somewhere.

"I'm very interested in everything," Bell said.

One of Bell's hopes is that she has planted the seed of interest with Rusellville students, as well as elsewhere she has taught. While in Paris, Missouri, she would take a student group to Europe every two years.

Europe has changed in the decades since Bell began traveling. Where once were cafes and music in France are sad-looking panhandlers, she said. Increased tourism taxes and security measures also have limited the more spontaneous excursions, she said.

Now, Bell is looking forward to visiting Europe without first-timers, going to see places she's never been like the Buckingham Palace and The Louvre. With a young group, she typically repeated the same traditional spots.

But she doesn't need to travel to explore other cultures.

Foreign exchange students who stay in Russellville have found the library a comfortable place. And the school designated Bell as the liaison to these students.

Most mornings, Bell chats with former students from Norway, Japan, Cameroon and Ecuador on Facebook. And through World Vision, she has sponsored several children through high school.

"I just love it; it feels so cool to connected all around the world," she said.

This year, Bell also serves as a liaison with AFS (American Field Service).

Her experience with different cultures has helped her develop an understanding that serves both the student and the host parents. Many times, troubles stem from misinterpretations of the other's culture or misunderstandings in communication, she said.

"What they need is someone to assume it's not the same," Bell said. "As a liaison, I need to know the kid's culture; I can't help resolve problems if I don't understand."

When language is a barrier, Bell draws on her experience teaching English as a Second Language and as a tutor at ABLE.

Growing up in a multicultural community in California, Bell said she didn't understand prejudice.

"To me, Missouri was a foreign country," she said.

But she liked the seasons and the slower pace. So she and her husband Bob chose to settle in Missouri to rear their family.

The last nine years, she has been librarian, a job she never expected, at Russellville High School, where she also coordinates the ITV and dual credit programs through Central Methodist University.

"The students I work with have high GPAs, and they are school leaders," Bell said. "It is a treat to get to know such smart, ambitious, and humorous young adults.

"They have kept me on my toes, and I have given them some big reality checks and a shoulder to cry on."

She decorates the library several times a year in international themes, like the current cherry blossoms of Japan, to create a welcoming atmosphere.

"They have become "my kids" and dear friends, and it will be bittersweet leaving the school," Bell said.

From Mid-Missouri, her passports have been stamped for Kenya, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

"My passion is I have a real interest in anything international," she said. "If I find out someone is from somewhere else, I go and see them.

"I love to learn and I can't do that from anyone who knows everything I do."