JackCentral

Imagine moving to another country, leaving behind friends and family and learning a new language—all with the hopes of not only broadening your own horizons, but also helping others. These are the core beliefs of the Peace Corps, ideals that many NAU students find themselves personally attracted to; in fact, last year, NAU was ranked No. 11 in the nation for having the most Peace Corps volunteers.
Mike Wagner, NAU forestry professor, volunteered in Ghana, West Africa from 1973-1975. His experiences there altered the course of his life. Since then, he has been back over 20 times, has collaborated on research with people in Ghana, written two books on the ecology of the country and helped facilitate Ashanti students earning PhD degrees from NAU. His office is also a testament to his love for the country: African masks and artwork hang on every wall.
“I found out about the program from a recruiter when I was in college,” Wagner said. “I grew up in a very poor farming family, so I guess you could say I was travel-deprived as a child. The Peace Corps offered the opportunity to get away that I never would have had otherwise.”
The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. Since then, more than 190,000 Americans have served their country in the name of peace, and NAU students often sign up, too. Wagner attended college while President John F. Kennedy was in office and the publicity for the new program drew him in. Founded to promote worldwide peace and friendship, the program has included 169 countries since its inception.
The three main goals of the Peace Corps are helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, promoting a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and promoting a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. Justin Hallet, a senior forestry major, hopes to go to South America or Central America during his service in the 27-month program, which will begin after he completes two semesters of grad school work through NAU.
“Completing my Peace Corps term will fulfill several life goals for me, including getting international business experience,” Hallet said. “It will be great to put my forestry knowledge to good use in a developing country.”
The forestry department has a history of being involved with the program; faculty members Jim Allen and Pete Fulé also participated.
“I found that volunteers who are most successful in the program are people that are very open-minded,” Wagner said. “If you go into the experience with any preconceived notions or preconceived judgments, it won’t work. You must get into your job and your community. Once you do that, you can be successful in that context, in a new culture and with a new language.”
Wagner was one of five people in the forestry area on assignment in Ghana. He became nearly fluent in Twi, the language used by the Ashanti people. He still uses it today.
“People have a lot of different ideas about what the Peace Corps are about,” Wagner said. “Some think it’s glamorous, like being on vacation. In reality, you’re immersed in a culture you initially know nothing about. For some people, missing home and their families is a real issue. For me, I knew it wasn’t economically possible for my family to come visit me. For me, what I was doing was engaging in an adventure.”
Alternately, Hallet has some reservations about his upcoming experience.
“I know I will be sacrificing a lot of the luxuries I’ve become accustomed to in order to experience a different culture,” Hallet said.
Hallet said he has visited the countries he hopes to live in before, so he has some idea of what to expect. Samantha Moore, an elementary education major, got involved as the school recruiter because she had a lot of international experience working with health issues.
“I applied to the Peace Corps when I was 18 and the recruiter told me to get a degree,” Moore said. “I did, and wound up pursuing other goals while working internationally. I have not re-applied, but the fact that I get to send so many people to such amazing places where they really make a difference in lives is very rewarding.”
Students from many different majors have shown a great interest in the program, as well as people over 50 years old from the Flagstaff community, Moore said.
As for Wagner, he takes a personal pride in NAU’s tradition of recruiting many new Peace Corps volunteers. NAU’s School of Forestry was the first on campus to host a Peace Corps strategy recruiter. The position remained within the school from 1983-1995 and resulted in about 25 new recruits every year. Returned volunteers were often hired by NAU as recruiters or entered into graduate programs.
“It was very successful and I am very proud of that history,” Wagner said. “NAU’s involvement speaks to the community of students we have committed to volunteerism. The Peace Corps creates opportunities for students of modest means. Through the program, idealistic and volunteer-oriented students are able to get out and do something. It’s a great life adventure.”
For more information, visit www.peacecorps.org.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.