upfront UpFront
Watch interviews with Valerie Wayson and Rachel Stephens at www.gcsu.edu/connectionmagazine
Mexico, Madagascar, Milledgeville Valerie Wayson, a Master of Fine Arts student at Georgia College from Austin, Texas, was motivated to join the Peace Corps after participating in a summer mission trip to Matamoros, Mexico, a border town opposite Brownsville, Texas, when she was a teenager. Though Valerie wasn’t particularly religious, she “jumped at the chance to avoid another week of daytime TV.” The long working working and intense heat made her weeks in Mexico difficult. Trash was everywhere, and entire families lived in makeshift shanties. Mission workers had to shower from well-water in buckets. “I counted the days off until I could return to my TV, AC and indoor plumbing,” Wayson says.
“From the beginning, everyone has been incredibly welcoming here,” Valerie Wayson says. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a Peace Corps volunteer she spent two years teaching high school English in a Madagascar classroom (where she also slept). “Because I was an English teacher,” Wayson explains, “I
lived in a village big enough to have a high school and electricity, although it went out frequently, and I got my water each day from a pump.” Madagascar is beautiful but very remote. The island country is impoverished and one of the only places in the world without a McDonald’s, says Wayson. Because the water is dirty, the local people suffer from diseases like syphilis, polio and malaria. And, “You have to be the equivalent of a millionaire in their culture to afford a vacation off the island,” she says. Her love of reading and language attracted her to pursue an MFA at Georgia College, the only university that offers a fellowship in Creative Writing for Peace Corps volunteers. She hopes to use her degree in the publishing industry, but not before more international adventures, including teaching English in Japan.
Interning on Capitol Hill Rachel Stephens, a freshman political science major at Georgia College, participated in the 2009 Congressional Black Caucus program, one of the most respected and competitive internships on Capitol Hill in in Washington, D.C. Since the caucus placed Stephens in her own congressman’s office, she had dual responsibilities. She assisted the congressional office by giving Capitol tours, reading letters from constituents and attending biweekly forums. Interns also kept journals about their experiences and participated in mock Congress sessions, dubbed “Congress In Action.” In fact, Stephens actually served as chair of a committee. Among the hearings she attended were those on the importance of the 2010 census and the Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination. Having taken “Politics and Society,” Stephens explains, “It was really amazing to see a lot of the concepts I learned about Washington come to life.”
8
Georgia College Connection • Fall 2009
Gabby Acuna is another example of the strong internship program at Georgia College. As a marketing major, she found the perfect fit, working during the summer at NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing Team. The company includes three drivers: Kyle Busch - #18 (M&M’S), Joey Logano - #20 (The Home Depot), and Denny Hamlin #11 (FedEx). Suffice it to say, Gabby became saturated with the world of marketing and promotion. “I will never look at a t-shirt as just a t-shirt again!” she says. “Working with Fortune 500 companies and licensees such as The Bradford Exchange, EA Sports, PEZ, and Herff Jones, has been a great experience. I know this opportunity has opened many doors for me.”