Katie Mitchell is a professor at DMACC who graduated from Kansas State University. Mitchell has advice for all students. She said, “Follow the money, unless you can bankroll your college [education] yourself, you can get a good education by going where they’ll pay you to go.” During her time with Kansas State, she was able to study abroad in Costa Rica., “Which was an awesome experience, and my scholarship paid for that too. So, I was fortunate,” said Mitchell.
After her time in Costa Rica, Mitchell was certain about her desire to study Spanish and Anthropology. Once graduation was on the horizon, Mitchell said, “My goal was to join the Peace Corps, because again, I had this wanting to see the world.” However, there were medical problems that conflicted with her Peace Corps application. “When I initially applied, I had some medical hurdles, which weren’t any big thing, but, while you’re abroad with the Peace Corps, they are guaranteeing your health and safety,” said Mitchell.
After a few years of teaching in Texas, the opportunity to work with the Peace Corps finally came. Mitchell was sent to Nicaragua, there was plenty of different opportunities for different Peace Corps members. “They work together with the government of the country, and the country says, if you’re going to send volunteers to our country, these are the areas that we would like them to help in,” Mitchell said.
So, after being accepted Mitchell went through three months of training, then was assigned to a town. A town where she is the only volunteer, “you go live with the host family, and you’re given some contacts, what’s called a counterpart to work with, in my case, a contact in the schools…the mayor’s office, then you are on your own,” said Mitchell.
The Peace Corps sent her to a community with a job to do, but everything else needs to be done on one’s own. Volunteers have to make friends, find their own spots to eat, and to just get acquainted with the town. It could be hard making friends from such different cultures. In Mitchell’s experience, she found that it’ was difficult joining a new culture, but fun. “I had to see myself try to integrate myself into this environment where I was so painfully an outsider and every interaction led with the fact that i was a gringa and that was interesting, but it’s not always that way”.
It is volunteer work, but Peace Corps members are still paid for the service they provide. They pay for necessities and how much individuals get paid change based on where they are stationed. The Peace Corps covers the cost of living, but in some of these countries, that’s more than what the average person makes.
The Peace Corps offers benefits as well. Mitchell said, “Peace Corps does take care of you, because you either get that loan deferral…there’s a few scholarship opportunities for master’s degree in graduate work after you come back as well.”
Once Mitchell came back, she took that opportunity to go to graduate school and became a professor. Katie Mitchell’s Peace Corps experience was instrumental to her life journey, spending more time than needed in Nicaragua and even marrying a civilian. She suggests at least taking the time to read a little about the organization. Mitchell said, “look into it and see if it could be something that would change your life.”
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