With exams looming and one semester left of her college career, early childhood education student Janna Gibson took a break from studying for her finals and created a blog.

The first post on the new blog expressed her interest in a spring-time College of Education study abroad program in China, which would place her in a Chinese classroom for her last few weeks of student teaching. She had created a website detailing the program and encouraged readers to consider supporting her in her efforts to teach abroad.

A scholarship opportunity to pay for the trip had fallen through just days before, she explained, and with just a few clicks, readers could give a $2 donation to cover part of the cost of the trip. She assured readers that the donations would be returned if she couldn't raise enough funds by early 2011, but this disclaimer soon proved unnecessary.

Within a few days of going live with the site, Gibson received a flood of responses, not only from her loved ones but also from high school classmates she had not seen for more than a decade and even complete strangers.

"I received a third of the funds for my trip on the first day," said Gibson, who is in the College of Education's Birth Through Five Program. "I was blown away by the support I got. It was really humbling to see this outpouring of love."

To continue reading about Gibson and her study abroad trip, click here.  

Photo caption: Janna Gibson is student teaching in Gail Williams' kindergarten classroom at Morningside Elementary School in Atlanta and taking her final classes in the College of Education before heading to China for a study abroad trip.