Some AU students felt hopeful to gain career skills after graduation Wednesday after listening to AU graduates who were Peace Corps volunteers while earning master's degrees.
Experience in English education is well respected in the job market - especially when combined with a graduate degree - according to Eric Goldman, who manages the Master's International Program at AU. The Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program celebrated its 10-year anniversary of the AU TESOL and Peace Corps combined program Wednesday.
"Ours is a profession that greatly respects solid international experience," Goldman said. "A semester abroad doesn't really count. When a student finishes the master's international training, he or she really is a full-fledged professional, and good news, is seen by employers as such."
AU's Master's International Program combines graduate-level classes at AU with two years abroad through the Peace Corps, Goldman said.
There are 62 colleges and universities with the combined TESOL and Peace Corps program, according to the acting Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen.
Brooke Cashman, an alumna of AU's TESOL program and returned Peace Corps volunteer from the Philippines, said she gained an experience both personally meaningful and useful for her resume.
"I learned more from that experience than from anything other professional experience I've had," Cashman said. "When I came back from the Peace Corps, something shocking happened, I was actually hired full time to teach."
Cashman said she worked as an English teacher during her Peace Corps experience but did not teach students in the classroom. Instead, she designed training programs for teachers.
She said she now works at Georgetown for their ESL program.
"It was entirely because of my unique and strong experience developing teaching programs in the Philippines," Cashman said. "In addition, some of the best moments of my life happened during Peace Corps."
Cashman said her classmates would agree that it's rare for a recent college grad to find such a position.
One current AU student at the event said she agreed that the Peace Corps could provide a good opportunity to develop work skills during a difficult job market.
Cate Minichino, a senior in the School of Communication, said she wanted an opportunity to travel and report abroad after she graduates in May - a job she knew was difficult to come by.
"There's no jobs on the market; the credit market is frozen," she said. "A lot of jobs abroad are hard to find, but the Peace Corps is ready to have you."
AU rose to third place on the Peace Corps' list of medium-sized schools producing Peace Corps volunteers with 756 AU alumni who have served, according to Olsen.
"Graduate school or Peace Corps? Why not do both?" she said.
You can reach this staff writer at klitvin@theeagleonline.com.
