In the spring of 1995, Cheryl Klauss—an accomplished, storied magazine photographer from Texas and based in New York City—stepped aboard as a photography instructor on Semester at Sea. Having photographed for high-profile organizations and traveled around the world pursuing her art, Cheryl came to the program with high standards and wanted to work with serious student-photographers. So, she required all interested students to interview for a spot in her classes. Among the applicants vying for a spot in her course: a 15-year-old girl named Megan Jacobs, sailing at the time with her mother, Professor JoEllen Jacobs.
Megan, a high school junior from rural Illinois, hoped to audit Cheryl’s class and arrived at her interview with a small, humble portfolio—images quickly developed at Walmart the day before embarkation. “I had lots of images of my cat,” Megan laughed. “But, thankfully, Cheryl has a soft spot for animals.”
Cheryl saw something in Megan rather immediately. “The thing about Megan is that she is driven, and I could tell that about her even then,” Cheryl said. Megan was ultimately permitted to audit the class—and, thus, began a lifelong passion and career for Megan and a mentorship and friendship for both Megan and Cheryl—all at once. From then on, throughout the Spring 1995 voyage, “No one had to worry about where Megan was on the ship; she was always in the darkroom working on her photos,” Cheryl said.
The on-ship darkroom became a turning point for Megan. “I was obsessed,” she said. “While I didn’t know how to develop film or enlarge images at first, I was just drawn in completely.” The class—and Cheryl’s mentorship—had planted a seed that would shape Megan’s life. After the voyage, Megan would go on to earn a BA in Fine Art from Smith College and an MFA from the University of New Mexico. She would become a practicing photographer and Associate Professor in the Honors College at UNM. And Cheryl, of course, stayed a part of Megan’s life for the long haul, offering mentorship, career guidance, and, above all, friendship. When Megan was married some years later in New Mexico, Cheryl surprised Megan by showing up, with all her photography gear in tow—she was there to capture images for one of the most monumental days of Megan’s life. “Cheryl’s now like a second chosen mom to me,” Megan said.
And the story gets even better. In Spring 2025, Megan returned to Semester at Sea—not as a teenager, but as a professor herself. She taught two sections of “Global Encounters in Art” and a photography course for non-art majors. Now, with her own two children sailing with her, it was Megan’s turn to shape the minds of budding photographers and artists on the ship.
But, perhaps the best part of all: there, in the front row of one of Megan’s Spring 2025 classes, sat Cheryl, who had signed up for the voyage as a Lifelong Learner. This time, some 30 years later, Cheryl would audit Megan’s class—a true full-circle moment in both of their lives.
“It was the most heartwarming thing to see Megan now leading a photography class on Semester at Sea,” Cheryl said. As part of the class, Megan was able to draw on Cheryl’s expertise from a career in photography. She helped offer feedback on student work. And the two spent time together on a private excursion while in Ghana, together documenting wall murals and local community members, enjoying the art of photography and the passion that had, 30 years ago, drawn them so close together to begin with.
Megan’s teaching style is also reminiscent of the global passions she’d admired in Cheryl as an instructor. She immerses her students in global, political, and social contexts, introducing them to artists who use their work to open dialogues, question injustices, and express their identities. “I hope my students leave with an investment in the arts, no matter their path,” Megan said. “Even if they become bankers, I want them to care about why the arts matter.”
Cheryl sees her own influence on Megan as her path carries forward. “It’s thrilling to see how far Megan has come,” she said.
From the Spring 1995 shipboard darkroom to Ghanaian villages in Spring 2025, from a young teenager’s curiosity about photography to a professor’s lifelong impact—this was a story that has come full circle. Of course, like all great art, the story continues to unfold. “Cheryl will forever be a part of my life and my teaching,” Megan said. “This is a story about relationships. Semester at Sea is a gift in itself—but the people you meet on the voyage are just a whole other gift entirely.”
