After graduating from UNH in 2011 with a dual major in Anthropology and International Affairs (with minors in Italian and Asian Studies) I joined AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). I worked with a team of eight people over the course of ten months. Our projects took us to Michigan, where we worked as camp counselors and environmental stewards; to Iowa, were we did construction and lead paint abatement with Habitat for Humanity; to Indiana, where we directed volunteers helping the town of Henryville recover from an F4 tornado; and finally, to South Dakota, where we worked with adults with disabilities at the Black Hills Works center. While serving in AmeriCorps I put my writing skills to use as my team’s media representative, writing articles and managing social media. Following AmeriCorps and a brief stint as substitute teacher in my home state of Maine, I left home for Cambodia, where I am currently teaching English as a Second Language with the Peace Corps. I live and work in a rural community where, in addition to regular high school classes, I teach an adult English class and an art class, along with my site mate. I am also helping to organize a nation-wide creative writing competition, and am currently working on a grant to provide new books and shelves for my school’s library. During my classes, I try to incorporate elements of Khmer history and culture to better connect with and teach my students. It has been a learning process, and hopefully my students are learning as much from me as I am from them. My time at UNH prepared me academically for the work I am doing, and my anthropology studies have provided me the open-mindedness, and perspective needed to adapt to and better serve my community here in Cambodia.
