CHS Teachers Find Their Own Piece of Peace in the Corps

CHS+Teachers+Find+Their+Own+Piece+of+Peace+in+the+Corps

Traveling around the globe changes people’s perceptions about humans and the surrounding world. The volunteer program, Peace Corps, provides people with an opportunity to travel to a new culture and expand their knowledge. Despite the Peace Corps being a very selective program, four of CHS’s educators—Beth Bodnar, Linda Saeta, Michelle Hernandez, and Barbara Bilderback—have all had experiences in the program, ranging from the 1980s to the more recent late 2000s. The regions each of these educators journeyed to differed from small, rural areas to larger, more central areas.

Each person’s goal was still the same: to interact with the people and adapt to the world around them. Bodnar and Bilderback traveled to Mauritania, Africa in 1988. Bilderback taught at the capital’s university, and Bodnar taught high school English in a much smaller city. Hernandez also went to Mauritania, in 2008, where she spent her time working in agriculture. Saeta taught mathematics in a small town in Togo, Africa.

“I was always obsessed with traveling and felt guilty about living a rich lifestyle,” Bodnar said. “I wanted to give back to other people who were not as fortunate as me.”

The Peace Corps is more than a volunteer program; it is a way to become engulfed in an entirely different culture. This can be challenging due to the fact that some locations speak a multitude of languages, creating communication issues on a day to day basis.

“It was very difficult at first to express yourself,” Hernandez said. “It was challenging to express all of who you are to people who didn’t speak English.”

The teachers had a difficult time overcoming language barriers and culture differences, but the outcome was ultimately very rewarding and many unforgettable memories were made. For example, when Hernandez first arrived, she was overcome by the amount of children who rushed to her car, curious about the new foreigner. The clothing they wore (or lack thereof ) was one of the many culture shocks the new teacher experienced being in an entirely new location.

However, once adjusted to a routine, these teachers became aware of their environment and began to develop relationships with the locals around them. Saeta, for instance, recalled staying and teaching her students for hours after class was dismissed. She spent time getting to know the children she taught that without the Peace Corps, she never would have known.

“It felt very special for me to see how determined these kids were to learn,’’ Saeta said. “They were great people.”

The program has given new lives to its volunteers after their adventures. Bodnar decided to adopt internationally after working with children outside of the U.S.. Bodnar, Saeta, and Bilderback all met their future husbands through Peace Corps. Bilderback became inspired to teach foreign students how to adjust to moving to the U.S.. She currently teaches English at CHS and provides help for people who are brand new to the U.S. and to the English language.

“Peace Corps was a very humbling experience for me. It made me want to help people who had to adapt to a new culture like I did,” Bilderback said.

Peace Corps is an experience made for travelers, and although most volunteers do the program directly after college, there are still plenty of opportunities for high school students who are interested in the program to get involved. There are local recruiters and an online library of blogs done by volunteers during their travels. Joining Peace Corps takes confident adventure-seekers who are ready to try out new things and go out of their comfort zone. If any student is curious about the program, now would be a great time to ask questions to the teachers who experienced it all firsthand.