On April 5, 2016, Andy Curtis, the 50th president of TESOL International Association, opened the Convention. His welcoming talk was followed by an opening keynote presentation by Aziz Abu Sarah, the executive director at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution. His talk inspired the audience and made every person in the room believe that everything is possible if we step out of our comfort zone, learn about other cultures, overcome stereotypes, introduce experiential education and challenge our students to learn outside the classroom and gain experience as well as knowledge.