Regan Bates

By Savannah Fields

Located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula Dubai has one of the largest populations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With the cities many attractions and beautiful waterfronts this city used to be home to Regan Bates, Woodlands, sophomore here at Stephen F. Austin.

Coming from a family of five, Bates is the youngest of three, growing up with two older brothers. Spending most of her childhood moving around Southern California traveling is no new things for Bates since her family has moved from California to Indiana then back to California. After moving back to California for the final time her family moved to Dubai a year after Sept.11, 2001 when her dad was offered a job to fix up UAE’s International Business School.

Being only 11 yrs old when she moved over seas with her family Bates explained how moving to Dubai, “was really scary because of the way the people in Emirate felt about people from the United States.” Reagan joked about how her mother had to dye her hair color black even before moving to Dubai because of the danger that her family faced by moving overseas.

After only a year of living in Dubai Reagan and her family, with the exception of her dad, moved back to the United States because it was too dangerous for them live their anymore. Her dad stayed behind in Dubai for another two years because he had to finish fixing one of the schools programs in Dubai.

After moving back to the United States Regan and her family moved to Texas where she spent most of her high school years. Even though she simply lived in Dubai for only a year Bates said going over seas was an experience that she wont forget.