UWL on Peace Corps’ top schools list
For the first time since 2009, UW-La Crosse has earned a spot on Peace Corps’ annual list of the top volunteer-producing midsized colleges and universities across the country. UWL ranks No. 20 with 14 alumni currently serving overseas as Peace Corps volunteers.
Since the agency was created in 1961, 261 UWL graduates have served as Peace Corps volunteers.
“The Peace Corps is a unique opportunity for college graduates to put their education into practice and become agents of change in communities around the world,” Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet says. “Today’s graduates understand the importance of intercultural understanding and are raising their hands in record numbers to take on the challenge of international service.”
UWL alum Alesha Klein, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, has been serving in Ethiopia as an education volunteer since July 2014. She teaches English to 9
th grade students and promotes girls empowerment in secondary projects.
Anthropology courses at UWL helped put Klein, 25, on the path to Peace Corps. “I have always thought as an anthropologist,” explains the 2010 grad. “I am an observer. This is the reason why I chose to serve in the Peace Corps. As a volunteer, we do all of those things: look at people’s relationships, languages and rituals. I get to be an anthropologist on top of doing my job as a volunteer.”
Two other Wisconsin colleges earned recognition. For large schools, UW-Madison ranks No. 2 with 68 volunteers. In the medium-school category, UW-Stevens Point is No. 14 with 16 alumni serving. Altogether, 149 graduates of the UW System’s 13 four-year universities are currently serving as volunteers.
Nationally, the University of Washington in Seattle pulled in the highest number of volunteers with 72 graduates currently serving in the Peace Corps. See the top 25 rankings for school size categories
here.
This year’s rankings follow a
40-year high in applications for the Peace Corps in 2015. This record-breaking number comes after the first full year that the agency implemented
historic reforms allowing applicants to choose the countries and assignments they’d like to be considered for.
Currently, 197 Wisconsin residents are serving in Peace Corps. Overall, 6,049 Wisconsin residents have served since the agency was created in 1961. Visit
www.peacecorps.gov/events for more information. The rankings are based on fiscal year 2015 data as of Sept. 30, 2015, as self-reported by Peace Corps volunteers.
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story by Heather Mangan, Peace Corps Midwest Regional Office
Meet two of UWL’s alumni in the Peace Corps
[caption id="attachment_45059" align="alignright" width="350"]
Alesha Klein, ’13, teaches English to 9th graders in Ethiopia as a Peace Corps volunteer.[/caption]
Alesha Klein
- 25-year-old from Maple Grove, Minnesota
- Serving in Ethiopia as an education volunteer since July 2014
- UWL grad, May 2013, in archaeology and anthropology, participated in Archaeology Club and 6th grade boys tutoring program
What are your main volunteer projects and secondary projects?
My main volunteer project is teaching English to 9th graders. Through my curriculum, students are taught to read, write, listen and speak in English. My secondary projects include teaching youth how to play soccer, educating my community about American holidays, spreading awareness about gender inequalities in my community, creating a world map in a rural village, participating in Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) and I am also a member of the Gender and Development committee of Peace Corps Ethiopia.
How did your alma mater help prepare you for international service or lead you to Peace Corps?
UWL helped me in so many ways with my international service. I took many anthropology courses that prepared me for different cultural situations. The most memorable course was ANT 350: Language and Culture by Dr. Susannah Lloyd. She taught me how to integrate within a community and to understand different languages. Here in Ethiopia, we have over 80 languages. ANT 350 was a perfect course to show me how one develops a language.
What/who inspired you to serve in the Peace Corps?
I have always thought as an anthropologist. I am an observer. I would look at different people’s behavior and cultures. I look at people’s relationships, languages, and rituals. I have spent time with different cultures observing them while collecting information about that said culture. This is the reason why I choose to serve in the Peace Corps. As a volunteer we do all of those things: look at people’s relationships, languages, and rituals. I get to be an anthropologist on top of doing my job as a volunteer.
What are your career aspirations?
My career aspirations are to go to graduate school after my service and focus in anthropology. I want to be able to merge my knowledge from the Peace Corps and hopefully community and economic development to serve and help my community and other U.S. communities.
What’s been your favorite part of service?
My favorite part of service so far is spending time with my compound family every night. This family is my support system here in Ethiopia. If I am ever in need of help they are right there helping me in any way possible. I love going into the main house at night to make dinner, play games with the kids, or just sitting on the sofa talking and listening to their conversations.
Erin Fischer
- 28-year-old from Wausau
- Serving in Ecuador as TEFL volunteer, since 2014
- UWL grad, May 2010, in biology and Spanish, participated in Residence Life (hall president and resident assistant)
What are your main volunteer projects and secondary projects?
My work here centers on English, both primary and secondary projects alike. I am finishing up my second year and was hired as a volunteer leader to extend my service for a third year. My first two years consisted mainly of work in a local high school. I co-planned and co-taught with 12 English teachers to improve methodology and teaching practices within the classroom. I also led weekly professional developments at my high school for the same 12 teachers.
I collaborated with the Ministry of Education on large-scale regional professional development projects and with the U.S. Embassy for summer camps.
Secondary projects at my school included organizing an English Recycled Art Club, English cooking classes, a summer camp and an English singing talent show.
My third year I will be serving as a volunteer coordinator and working more closely with the Ministry of Education to organize professional development projects across four different provinces.
How did your alma mater help prepare you for international service or lead you to Peace Corps?
My second major was Spanish and thanks to a fabulous professor, Melissa Wallace, a passion for Spanish was born in me. This led me to studying abroad and then volunteering abroad during my summers at UWL. My desire for culture was not saturated and this eventually led me to applying for Peace Corps. In addition, my time in Res Life highly prepared me for working in a diverse environment and program development, a large part of my service here.
What/who inspired you to serve in the Peace Corps?
For quite some time I have wanted to work abroad, and I wanted to feel that my work had meaning and purpose. What I was looking for closely aligned with what Peace Corps offers.
What are your career aspirations?
My main goal is to continue serving a cause greater than myself. I will always be a volunteer at heart. Currently I am looking into going into nonprofit management when I return to the states.
What’s been your favorite part of service?
The people and the community, hands down. I expected to fully immerse myself, but I didn't expect the ''consequences'' that would yield. I have found a second family, a second home. I have been accepted into the hearts and homes of so many people and feel so blessed to have them in my life. Ecuador is so much more than where I served – it's where I lived, where I laughed, where I loved, where I cried and where I will definitely be coming back to!
About the Peace Corps
The Peace Corps sends the best and brightest Americans abroad on behalf of the U.S. to address the most pressing needs of people around the world. Volunteers work with their community members at the grassroots level to develop sustainable solutions to challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment and youth development. Through their service, volunteers gain a unique cultural understanding and a life-long commitment to service that positions them to succeed in today’s global economy. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 220,000 Americans of all ages have served in 141 countries worldwide. For more information, visit
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