This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mizzou chapter.
After studying in the Middle East and being actively involved in many organizations across campus, John Mitchell has decided to apply for the Peace Corps. Her Campus decided to sit down and chat with this week’s Campus Celeb to talk about his awesome decision and what led him to proceed through the long application process.
HCM: What led you to apply for the Peace Corps?
JM: Well there have been several facets combined led me to the Peace Corps. Service has always been close to my heart and I am also passionate about traveling. During the Spring semester of my Junior year, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Jordan and travel the Middle East. While there, I found this program where I received the privilege to work on this month-long community service project renovating an elementary school in Um-Njasa, which was a rural town outside of Amman, Jordan. After the completion of the school, they showed the children who attended there the end result. Seeing the look on the kid’s faces gave me such a fulfillment and it truly made me realize that something I’d consider so simple, would make such a huge impact for others. That experience solidified my wish to pursue the Peace Corps because it would provide me with an outlet to do something like that, but for a longer period.
HCM: What do you wish to do for the Peace Corps?
JM: I would love to work with the youth in any capacity, Peace Corps has several fields to participant in and out of those, I want to volunteer in the Education or Youth in Development field, specifically where I could teach and encourage critical thinking in the classroom and/or work on outreach projects concerning at-risk youth. I have experience in both, moreso, the latter.
HCM: What do you wish to gain from the experience?
JM: I wish to gain fulfillment- knowing that I’ve made a global impact for a particular community in a specific country. Also learning more about myself by being placed in a situation that will challenge my emotional maturity and of course technical skills like learning the native language and honing my abilities in whatever field I’m placed in.
HCM: What other programs are you involved in on campus that may have helped shape your decision to apply?
JM: Being a part of the great fraternity of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, gave me an outlet full of men who are dedicated to our Cardinal Principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift and something we are passionate about is giving back to the community. Other programs on campus I am in that helped influence my decision to pursue the Peace Corps is being the Founder of Global Communications, a news-entity here at the university who focuses on the international community at the university and around the world, I am a part of the Executive Board of the Missouri International Student Council, and work for the Vice Provost for International programs in the Confucius Institute division. These experiences have shown me that I am passionate about derive, internationalism, communication, diversity, acceptance and education, so I basically combined all my passions and the Peace Corps was the perfect amalgamation of these.
HCM: How do you think your studying at Mizzou and in the Middle East will help you?
JM: Studying at both Mizzou and in the Middle East has supplied me with beaucoup skills for Peace Corps! I’ve had the opportunity to study the Arabic language and focus on Ameeya, the colloquial Arabic of Jordan. That study abroad allowed me to visit Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Cyprus also, so I’ve been exposed to different cultures, which opened my eyes to the spectrum of perspectives our world possesses. I learned how to adapt to my environments, make quick decisions under pressure and learned that IT IS ok to say I don’t understand. Regarding Mizzou, I came from Memphis, Tennessee all the way to Columbia, MO with no friends following me – I literally started anew. This compelled me to step out of my comfort zone and develop friends and a support system, which strengthened my emotional maturity. Also, as students, we know that there have or will be times where we face stressful moments, but ultimately, we learn to persevere and continue on toward our goal. Unbeknownst to me, my experiences at Mizzou and the Middle East have prepared me to be, hopefully, an amazing Peace Corps volunteer. It really shows that life is a journey, not a destination.
HCM: Any plans on what you’re going to do afterwards?
JM: After all is said and done, I plan on continuing my pursuit of higher education by getting my Masters of Public Administration on the east coast at either American University, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown or George Washington.