For Kathryn Ross ’15, who has been committed to volunteer work since high school, joining the Peace Corps is a natural extension of her inclination towards community service. So, starting later this summer, Ross will move to Tanzania to teach English to high school-age students.
“I was drawn to the Peace Corps because of the two-year time commitment and [the] ability to work with a new community in a completely different culture,” she says. “I look forward to following the lives of my future students to see where their English [skills] will take them.”
A psychology major with a minor in education, Ross was part of 8th Dimension, Haverford’s office of community service. During her senior year, as a co-leader of the club, she organized many on- and off-campus events for the office, which helped her to develop leadership skills and prepare for her upcoming service in Tanzania.
Additionally, the encouragement she received from 8th Dimension Director Marilou Allen, traveling around Europe while studying abroad in Denmark, and watching her family, as a child, host an exchange student from Moldova inspired Ross to pursue a position in the Peace Corps.
In July she will undergo three months of training in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city. Then, as she understands it, she will be placed in a rural area or small town, where she will spend 10 to 16 hours a week teaching in a secondary school classroom. She will also work on projects related to HIV/AIDS and malaria education, girls’ empowerment, and other areas in development.
After her service in the Peace Corps Ross hopes to pursue a career in autism research or therapy. But for now she is excited to spend the next two years abroad, working in education and learning about new cultures.
“I am a big-hearted, adventurous girl from the Midwest who has always enjoyed putting a smile on the faces of everyone around me,” she says. “I am happiest when I am surrounded by nature and meeting new people.”
–Hina Fathima ’15
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.