About Traci
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Effective Contextual Communication Professional with over 40 years of experience
My name is Traci Seltzer. I am an American woman with a plethora of educational & practical experience which has honed my interaction skills, ability to understand contextualism and ability to understand human behavior and choices thus possible future choices. My education includes a bachelors in international relations, a masters of business administration, a masters of psychology, and a masters of education.
- Professional Fortes
- Contextualism; personal history & cultural
- Behavior choice analysis: Non-verbal, paraverbal & verbal cues; communication
- Interpersonal & intrapersonal skills: Direct, realistic communication & cross-cultural communication (written & spoken)
- International experience including cultural norms, diversity & sensitivity: American culture & subcultures; Russian business traditions, culture & geography; South Korea, China, Byelorus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Brazil, Germany
- Professional Fortes
- Negotiation, mediation, conflict & dispute resolution/mediation through direct, realistic verbal communication
- Defense & strategic plans & planning including soft skills of potential employees, professionals and partners
- Motivation for self & others in and for various situations & topics
- Voice of reason or playing "Devil's advocate"
- Intelligences: Tacit, crystallized & emotional; honed executive function
- Reasonings: Deductive, inductive & fluid
- Experience & Specialty Groups
- Russian Professionals: Since 2013, I have spent the majority of my waking hours interacting with Russian professionals who work in various fields, and now various locations.
- Criminal Analyst which included leveraging plea deals from the prosecutor and then trying to sell the plea deal to our client, which wasn't always easy. More recently, I attempted to provide assistance (social & strategic) to a powerful but narcissistic, homicidal gang leader. He is a former student of mine (see below).
- Academic Teacher in a men's prison: I taught social skills especially communication skills, emotional intelligence & intrapersonal skills disguised as academic topics.
- Internal fiscal & compliance auditor for various entities
- Communication & life coach for non-English speaking professionals, mainly Russian speaking professionals
- Animal behaviorist in an animal behavior program
- Education & Degrees
- Master’s of Education in International Education, Keiser University, USA; June 2018
- Master’s of Science in Psychology, Northcentral University, USA; September 2012
- MBA (in Leadership & International Business), Capella University, USA :June 2009
- Bachelor’s of Arts in International Relations, Pennsylvania State University, USA; December 1992
- Successful completion of Certified Fraud Examiner exam, Assn of Certified Fraud Examiners, USA; March 2013
- 140-hour TEFL certificate, ITTO, Mexico; May 2010
- Attended the University of Maryland, European Division, in (West) Berlin, (West) Germany in 1990-91
Publications & Prose
The Gladstone Gables series is about four pre-adolescent students who volunteer at a horse rescue farm. They learn about the horses but also about themselves and social interaction & skills including communication skills, compassion, contextualism & understanding.
La serie Gladstone Gables trata de cuatro estudiantes preadolescentes que trabajan como voluntarios en una granja de rescate de caballos. Aprenden sobre los caballos, pero también sobre sí mismos y sobre interacción social y habilidades como la comunicación, la compasión, el contextualismo y la comprensión.
Серия «Глэдстоун Гейблз» рассказывает о четырех школьниках-подростках, которые работают волонтерами на ферме по спасению лошадей. Они узнают не только о лошадях, но и о себе, о социальном взаимодействии и навыках, включая навыки общения, сострадания, контекстуализма и понимания.
SeeReal Reality is my first installment of a novel series. It combines many genres because it is based on real life. I used many of my own life experiences and centered them around a fictious story line. The three main characters are in their mid-30s; one American woman, one Italian-American man, and one Russian man. The genres include action/adventure, suspense, romance, "whodunit", a bit of erotic, drama, and "What would you do if......?" The name of the novel is a play on English words.
A memento created and authored by one of my inmate students in the first few weeks I worked as an academic teacher in a men's prison. I disguised the teaching of social skills in the academic lessons.
Fun Facts about Traci
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- I am quite eccentric. I embrace this fact full heartedly! My eccentricities are what make me endearing and memorable. I enjoy walking to the tune of a different drummer because my drummer has a harmonica! If we were all the same, only one of us would be necessary in this world.
- I have a very witty and sarcastic sense of humor that I use in most venues & situations while responding on the spectrum between diplomatically polite to rather brutally honest. English is my first language but sarcasm is my "second language" that I use just as easily as my first language.
- I am a history buff. I am very well-versed in history, historical international political economics and geography. The world and its situations are how they are now due to situations that occurred in the past.
- I lived in (West) Berlin, (West) Germany in the late 1980s & early 1990s with my first husband when the The Wall began to fall. I spent Unification Night at the the Brandenberger Tor. What a night to remember!
- I can read Russian but I do not actually know what it means. I know the Russian alphabet and its letters' sounds. I understand the theoretical Russian grammar, and I have a very small working Russian vocabulary.
- I have a very extensive knowledge of Russian culture and history, which helps understand contextualism which helps facilitate relations.
- I collect education as a hobby (I have three masters degrees).
- I have a children's book series that teaches social skills to young people. The series is called Gladstone Gables.
- I have been writing a novel since 2001. It is entitled SeeReal Realities. It spans many genres; action & adventure, psychology, romance, erotica, suspense, "What would you do if.....?"
- I was a rock climber and ice climber in my undergraduate college days. I have spent many weeks and months in a tent. I taught rock climbing at the university. I have seen a lot of very rural America via a truck and tent with no modern convenience and no phones.
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- I am a farrier; I trim and shoe horse hooves.
- I owned a situationally-narcoleptic former racing Thoroughbred gelding.
- I owned and rode a "crotch rocket" motorcycle for about 6 years when I was married to my 2nd husband.
- I do not have any children but I have many pets and interesting friends, both which are just as challenging as children :)
- I tend to have unpleasant results from venom-related incidents. I almost lost my left leg to a spider bite. I was bitten in the right nostril by a spider. My face swelled. I was bitten by a tick and now I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I was bitten by a snake and almost died. I received seven vials of anti-venom. I swelled up like a balloon. My friends kept calling me "Mrs. Stay-Puft".
- I have moved halfway across the US on seven separate occasions. I do not have any plans to increase this count.
- I've lived through 5+ hurricanes, uncountable severe supercell thunderstorms and 2 earthquakes but no tornadoes.......yet.
- One of my most favorite and memorable jobs was as an academic teacher in a men's prison and as a criminal analyst for a former chief judge who went back into private practice.
- I am good at sewing and carpentry, and now I'm learning to be my own electrician because I use solar panels for electricity.
- I make most of what I need in learning materials and in real life.
- I created almost everything on this website (pic texts, texts & design) from an educational psychology point of view.
My Knowledge of Russian Culture
Over the years, I've learned a lot from my Russian friends & students.
Here are some "facts" I've learned.
- Many Russians have both an internal and an international passport. The US only has international passports.
- There’s an employment book! Everyone has one!
- If you forget something at home and must return home, make sure you look in the mirror before you leave again.
- Going on a trip? Sit on your bags or luggage before leaving.
- If you’re a woman and you would like to get married someday, do not sit at the corner of a table.
- Need to boil water for tea? Use the самовар, and maybe with a boot to get the nostalgic Russian Empire feeling.
- Баба Яга lives in a house on chicken legs.
- It is NOT possible to see bears walking on the streets of Moscow or St. Pete, but perhaps on the streets of towns and cities in Чуко́тка.
- The Russian work-around Method is engrained in the Russian culture due to necessity.
- How are you? is not a formality in Russia. It is only asked if one truly wants to know.
- Salary can be black and/or white.
- Want to sell your flat? Any interior, non-material walls must be put back to where they were originally.
- After 6 months outside of the RF, one is no longer a tax resident of the RF.
- The hot water is turned off for a week or so each year in Moscow and St. Pete. Plan accordingly! Go on vacation or get your own hot water heater, which is the norm now.
- Russians do not have an affinity for an electric clothes dryer. Clothes are hung to dry throughout the flat and/or on the balcony, even in wintertime.
- The heat in flats is regulated by the government. If it is turned on too early, then open the windows. If not turned on early enough, put on more clothes.
- There’s a food called Fish under Fur that is a New Year’s favorite along with red caviar.
- Russian man is a tough, sturdy brick wall until his body temperature rises one degree Celsius, then he becomes a helpless infant.
- The word for marriage брак is also the same word for broken or defective. Very interesting, and often accurate!
- It is possible, and highly probable to see a Swedish family in a German movie.
- The free health insurance does not cover STDs.
- The names of American movies in Russian are often very long and rather strange and/or comical.
- Russian punctuation rules are a mystery even to a lot of Russians.
- Many Russians go on vacation for the first few weeks in January and again in May.
- There’s a celebration to honor блины while saying good-bye to winter; Мaсленица. Perhaps the first блин of the day is a ball if they are homemade!
- There are warehouses for storing only vehicle tires.
- There is a winter petrol and a summer petrol. There are repercussions if the correct one isn’t available when it should be.
- Many Russians do not feel that taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia is an item for their bucket list.
- New Year’s Eve is a huge celebration for Russians when they exchange gifts. Russian Christmas is not considered a big holiday. For Americans, Christmas is the huge celebration and New Year’s Eve is not.
- On New Year’s Day, many Russians will watch Ирония судьбы или с лёгким паром, or Home Alone, the American movie.
- Halloween and Easter are becoming a bit more popular in Russia than they used to be, probably because of the fun and enjoyment they are known for.
- The must-have for Easter: кулич
- There’s a difference between a дача and an изба, but both may have a баня.
- The enigmatic male Russian soul!
- Having people dressed in all black visiting your place of work might be a reason to have a day off. Either way, it is never a good event.
- Russian мат is much more colorful than American. There’s lot more to choose from in Russian so it can be very tailored to make it appropriate for almost any situation.
- There are places in Russia that are not accessible by road at any time of year, and other places that are only accessible in winter when the ground and water freeze.
Get in Touch Info
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