Majoring in Peace and Justice Studies at Wellesley was a great choice for me professionally, academically, and personally. Focusing on Peace and Justice Studies, “a structured independent major,” was an opportunity to follow my instincts and chart my own path. This set a precedent for my professional choices after college. I am currently the executive director of an international nongovernmental organization that I started in college called Global Learning (GL). Global Learning is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to using education as a tool for social justice. My college classes relating to the politics of development and underdevelopment, social inequality, community organizing, and foreign language informed my thinking in ways that directly relate to the goals of Global Learning programs and my daily work with the organization. For instance, my training in Peace and Justice Studies has provided a framework for understanding global inequality on macro and micro levels which frames the sort of education and community development work in which I engage. Different from traditional, top-down, outsider-led development, Global Learning offers educational programs in which local volunteers from host communities lead and partner with foreign volunteers in collaborative endeavors to answer the needs of underserved schools in Mexico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Thanks in part to my Peace and Justice Studies background, I value the expertise that only local community members hold about their own communities and recognize the importance of working together across boundaries to contribute to global change. GL’s international programs, student-centered pedagogy, and dedication to cooperative leadership help diverse individuals cross socio-economic, national, racial and cultural divides.
Academically, the rigor and challenge of being a Wellesley student in the Peace and Justice Studies department helped sharpen and develop my critical thinking skills; vastly improved my research, writing and presentation abilities; provided me with applicable knowledge about the complexities of international community development; and raised the bar of excellence I strive to achieve. The academic training I received at Wellesley prepared me well for the graduate work I completed after Wellesley. Supported by a George Mitchell Fellowship, I earned a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Limerick in Ireland in 2004. In 2005, I completed a second master’s, in International Education Policy, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Peace and Justice Studies shaped the academic lenses through which I view the world and provided a solid academic foundation on which to build upon in graduate school.
On the most personal level, majoring in Peace and Justice Studies helped anchor me at Wellesley within a community of like-minded individuals passionate about social justice and peace. Many of the friendships, mentorships, and collaborative partnerships I value most today have roots in my Peace and Justice Studies at Wellesley. The support, inspiration, and encouragement stemming from these relationships are important to me as an academic, a professional, and an independent woman determined to make my education relevant in a larger global context. |
