A creatively designed curriculum may be able to bring diversity from the outside world to the students in the classroom, but some members of the University community have chosen to try this the other way around.
By joining the Peace Corps, University graduate student Amanda Hildt and University alumna Tina Schuster chose to interact directly with unknown cultures.
These are two of many University students who made the same decision. Last year, the University ranked No. 1 out of medium-size colleges and universities in the number of alumni volunteers produced for the Peace Corps, according to data supplied by Bartel Kendrick, a public affairs specialist for the Peace Corps.
The organization's informational catalog explains that the Peace Corps sends volunteers to over 70 countries to provide requested practical assistance.
Schuster, who graduated from the Education School in 2004 and served in Namibia from 1999 to 2002, explained that volunteers are given a 27-month assignment. She said this includes three months of on-sight, cross-cultural training in which one learns about different customs and the local language.
"You are supposed to speak that language the whole time," Schuster said.
Hildt noted that she had very little previous experience in the local language.
"I knew how to say 'hello' and 'thank you,' and that's it," said Hildt, who volunteered in Madagascar from 2001 to 2002.
For three months, Hildt said she lived with a host family in order to pick up the language.
"It's like growing up all over again. The first things you learn in the language are 'I'm full' and 'I'm hungry,'" Hildt said. "Three months later, you're having political discussions."
Hildt said she became interested in the Peace Corps because she "had been in school my entire life, and I really wanted to do something for the world."
She added, "I couldn't handle going straight into a job and all the monotony in that."
For Schuster, the Peace Corps was an opportunity to help define her future.
"I was looking for some more direction about what I wanted to do when I came back," she said.
Schuster did in fact find this direction, she explained, for she later entered the Education School after discovering she wanted to be a teacher.
"When you leave the country, you start to define who you are because you are out of your usual contact," Schuster explained.
Schuster also described the sense of fulfillment to be gained.
The Peace Corps "was something I knew I'd be proud of doing," Schuster said. "It seemed like an adventure."
Adventure often comes in the form of many challenges, both intended and unexpected, that the volunteers must face.
Living conditions are one such challenge.
Hildt lived within what she described as a sort of nature preserve inside a forest. Her hut had no running water, and she said she had to fetch it from a pond at the bottom of a hill.
And with nature comes animals. Hildt noted in particular that she was living in a lemur sanctuary.
"I had this romantic vision of lemurs stealing my food," Hildt said. "And they actually did!"
When not chasing chickens and lemurs out of her home, Hildt worked at her official assignment.
Hildt said her task in Madagascar dealt with developing and introducing methods to prevent slash and burn agriculture.
She noted, however, that while the people were particularly motivated, it was hard for them to accept some of the changes she was proposing -
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