Many Pericleans see this limitation and seek out opportunities to move past it. When you see an issue that you learn about and want to do more to address it, often danger will be the least of your concerns. The real concern is, what will happen to society if we allow these issues to go unaddressed? If a tree falls down in a distant forest and an American isn’t around to hear it, does it still make a sound? Since we are global citizens, I say yes.
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| No Americans were around to hear this tree fall. It still fell. |
The Periclean Scholars program can be considered a farm program for organizations that work to address critical issues such as these. We learn about issues in our countries of focus that we may never have the opportunity to address directly while on the ground in the course of our four years in college. These issues tie intimately into our groundwork, though, so we cannot omit them from our course of study. Pericleans see the big picture and feel a calling during and after college to continue to do more.
The Peace Corps is one way to answer this call. A national service program, it places alums in countries and situations (potentially dangerous) that they cannot determine in the intake process. Lisa Nicolaison ‘08 used her experiences in Chiapas, Mexico, to create successful projects as a Peace Corps volunteer in eastern Ghana. Bonnie Harvey ‘09 felt called to continue service in Sub-Saharan Africa and just completed service as a community health advisor through the Peace Corps in Usisya Malawi. Laura Veno ‘09’s Peace Corps experience has her in Letychiv, Ukraine, teaching English as a foreign language. Other Pericleans answer the calling by joining similar groups. One great example is Courtney Latta ‘09, who accepted a position with the Children’s Nutrition Program in Haiti. She had her skills put to the test during the 2010 earthquake and continues to be a pillar of strength in her village. Pericleans such as those listed above, when placed into international organizations such as these, find that their ability to serve - and to be with - their communities, as learned through the Periclean program has made them particular assets.
The fact that the Periclean Scholars are not working in the Congo or Angola is not a story of failure. The program is planting the seeds of passion that will impassion alums to confront these dangerous development issues in person. By completing the Periclean program, alums have an even greater sense of their place in the world and of their power to invoke change. We begin to see new university graduates choosing the unbeaten paths to exercise this power and to work toward our common good. They are farmed to these incredible organizations that allow their Periclean skills to flourish. They listen to their partner communities to identify the easiest and most effective path to resolving key issues, acknowledging that the local community often has the best solution.
Would these alumni have chosen to become involved with these international development issues had they not been in the Periclean program? Perhaps. Regardless, the program does at least two things to secure the alumni’s futures with international development. First, it gives them a toolbox of how to best address issues that may arise - whether related to cultural change, conflict management, effective listening, understanding other groups, or more. Second, it gives them key experience with addressing related issues under the Periclean umbrella. For competitive roles in these organizations, the experience in countries of focus is what pushes Periclean candidates over the edge. There are few, if any, programs like the Periclean Scholars, and development organizations prefer to have candidates with Periclean (or Periclean-like) experience on their teams.
This is reason #25 to support Periclean Scholars: to farm a new generation of leaders on the most difficult development issues worldwide.
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