ThisWeek CW 03/15/2012
Canal Winchester native Karin Nordstrom’s plan to join the Peace Corps will fulfill a desire nurtured by her own life experiences.
“My decision (to join the Peace Corps) has been affected by my desire to meet people of different cultures and to portray Americans well abroad,” Nordstrom said. “I wanted to make an impact on the world while also learning from other cultures and that made the Peace Corps a perfect fit.”
She is one of more than 300 Ohioans who will spend the next two years serving with the Peace Corps.
Following graduation from Canal Winchester High School, Nordstrom attended Ohio State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminology in 2011.
“While at Ohio State, I took several classes on development, HIV/AIDS and cultural differences that led to my decision to join the Peace Corps,” Nordstrom said. “In addition, the people that I met while teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, going on service trips, or just through social events at the university showed me the importance of tolerance.”
Those opportunities helped lead Nordstrom to joining the Peace Corps, she said.
“The friends that I gained through those wonderful experiences gave me the ambition to expose myself to more diverse situations, both inside and outside the classroom at Ohio State,” Nordstrom said. “I decided that I wanted to become a more aware, tolerant person, and the Peace Corps seems like an excellent way to achieve those goals.”
Peace Corps spokesperson Christine Torres said Nordstrom’s first three months in Senegal will be spent living with a host family to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture.
After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary, Torres said, Nordstrom will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in Senegal, where she will live and work for two years with the local people.
“I’m eager to do my part to aid in Senegal’s development, but I am most concerned with building a bridge between myself and the community I am placed in,” Nordstrom said. “I want to be able to come back to the United States and share what I’ve learned with my friends and family in the so that we can all better understand how to foster great relationships with other countries.”
Nordstrom said she hopes to study law and work with nonprofits after she completes her Peace Corps service.
Her mother, Mary Nordstom, said she is very proud of her daughter.
“I’m very proud of Karin and her independent spirit and strength,” Mary Nordstrom said. “I think this is a wonderful opportunity for her.”
She said she misses her daughter already, but she is already planning for a visit.
“Social media has really played a role in parent support,” she said. “There’s a Facebook group for parents of Peace Corps volunteers which has really helped. The Corps encourages family to go and visit her site, but they ask that you wait at least six months. Once she finds out where she’ll be placed specifically, we’ll start talking about how to make a visit happen.”
The Peace Corps began in 1961 under executive order from President John F. Kennedy.
According to Torres, volunteers work in the areas of agriculture, environment, health and business. More than 200,000 Americans have served.
For more information visit www.peacecorps.gov.