16 July 2008
Departure!
Hey Everyone. We leave for Boston's Logan airport in ten minutes for our flight to Cape Verde. After a quick staging (orientation), my group knows one another fairly well. We cannot wait to start training and eventually serving after nine weeks. Two of the other trainees maintain a blog with tons of pictures, so check them out: http://livingoncrumbs.blogspot.com/ Thanks for all the nice messages.
09 July 2008
Introduction
Welcome to my blog. I started this at the urging of friends and family, as I prepare for Peace Corps in Cape Verde, working in Community Development and Environmental Education. I hope to update this fairly regularly once I arrive in Praia July 17, but that depends on my internet access.
For anyone who does not know me, I grew up in East Lansing, MI with my parents and two brothers. I attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor's of Business Administration and a minor in the Program in the Environment. I kept busy, serving three years as manager of the men's track team, joining Lord of Light Lutheran Church, and holding the position of Co-Chair of Outreach and Education for the Michigan Students Advocating Recycling (MSTAR) for one semester.
I decided to do Peace Corps for myriad reasons. My parents encouraged volunteer work, practicing what they preached giving their time and talent to East Lansing Public Schools and our congregation, University Lutheran Church. When I got to Michigan I did some volunteer work, mostly as manager. I thought I might want to do something like Peace Corps, Teach for America, or AmeriCorps.
In 2006 I took the incredible opportunity to research in Ghana for a month, under U of M's Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU). Traveling with 11 students, we tried to develop and implement plastics recycling programs in Accra and Senya-Beraku. I consider it the best four weeks of my life, and the main reason I chose Peace Corps over the other options.
People ask, "Why go abroad when people need so much help here in the US?" Going to Ghana opened my eyes to the new realities. Seeing crippling poverty in person, not on TV or in pictures, hammers it home. I think of walking down an alley along a canal. Within probably 100 meters we saw people drinking the water, washing clothes in it, and defecating in it. This does not happen in the US. I do not want to marginalize the problems faced by millions in the US, or exaggerate living conditions in the developing world, but overall I believe I can do the greatest good with my education overseas. In Power Politics Arundhati Roy put aptly, saying, "once you've seen it, you can't unsee it."
The following summer I took the business school route, doing a marketing internship with Nike in Beaverton, OR. In my interview my future manager asked what I wanted to do after graduation, adding I did not have to say, "work for Nike." I told her I wanted to do Peace Corps, and she hired me nonetheless. I considered it important to give the corporate world a shot, to see if I truly wanted to volunteer 27 months. Nike, while an incredible place to work, reconfirmed my desire to take the road less traveled by Ross School of Business students. I cannot imagine a cooler place to work in corporate America. If I did not feel happy there, no traditional job could satisfy me.
In any case, I cannot wait to board the plane to Praia. I do not know what to expect, not that any future Peace Corps Volunteer (FPCV) does, but I look forward to whatever awaits in Cape Verde. Thank you to my friends and family for your continued support. I love you all.
For anyone who does not know me, I grew up in East Lansing, MI with my parents and two brothers. I attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor's of Business Administration and a minor in the Program in the Environment. I kept busy, serving three years as manager of the men's track team, joining Lord of Light Lutheran Church, and holding the position of Co-Chair of Outreach and Education for the Michigan Students Advocating Recycling (MSTAR) for one semester.
I decided to do Peace Corps for myriad reasons. My parents encouraged volunteer work, practicing what they preached giving their time and talent to East Lansing Public Schools and our congregation, University Lutheran Church. When I got to Michigan I did some volunteer work, mostly as manager. I thought I might want to do something like Peace Corps, Teach for America, or AmeriCorps.
In 2006 I took the incredible opportunity to research in Ghana for a month, under U of M's Global Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU). Traveling with 11 students, we tried to develop and implement plastics recycling programs in Accra and Senya-Beraku. I consider it the best four weeks of my life, and the main reason I chose Peace Corps over the other options.
People ask, "Why go abroad when people need so much help here in the US?" Going to Ghana opened my eyes to the new realities. Seeing crippling poverty in person, not on TV or in pictures, hammers it home. I think of walking down an alley along a canal. Within probably 100 meters we saw people drinking the water, washing clothes in it, and defecating in it. This does not happen in the US. I do not want to marginalize the problems faced by millions in the US, or exaggerate living conditions in the developing world, but overall I believe I can do the greatest good with my education overseas. In Power Politics Arundhati Roy put aptly, saying, "once you've seen it, you can't unsee it."
The following summer I took the business school route, doing a marketing internship with Nike in Beaverton, OR. In my interview my future manager asked what I wanted to do after graduation, adding I did not have to say, "work for Nike." I told her I wanted to do Peace Corps, and she hired me nonetheless. I considered it important to give the corporate world a shot, to see if I truly wanted to volunteer 27 months. Nike, while an incredible place to work, reconfirmed my desire to take the road less traveled by Ross School of Business students. I cannot imagine a cooler place to work in corporate America. If I did not feel happy there, no traditional job could satisfy me.
In any case, I cannot wait to board the plane to Praia. I do not know what to expect, not that any future Peace Corps Volunteer (FPCV) does, but I look forward to whatever awaits in Cape Verde. Thank you to my friends and family for your continued support. I love you all.
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