I applied to the University of Cincinnati with no desire to go to the University of Kentucky because everyone else from high school went there. I followed my parents' footsteps because of UC's cooperative education (co-op) program. There are a few programs that require you to do a year-worth of internships in order to graduate, making them five-year degrees. During my year of internships, I traveled around the United States working for public, private and non-profit organizations, both paid and unpaid.
While nearing the end of my undergraduate program, I had a goal to pursue sustainable development on an international scale. That's when I discovered that the School of Planning's graduate program had a joint program with the United States Peace Corps (PC) called Master's International (MI) program. It is discontinued now, but there is similarly great program called the Paul D. Coverdell Fellow Program. The difference between these two programs is that the Coverdell program offers scholarship opportunities for Master's degrees, after you have completed your Bachelor's degree and served 27-months in the Peace Corps.
I joined the Master's International program. The MI program required me to do a year of graduate classes, 27 months of Peace Corps, then return to finish my final year of classes and complete my thesis that I created while in the Peace Corps.
I got my country placement for Morocco in August of 2013. I shipped out on January 12, 2014. 103 other volunteers and I were brought in as youth development volunteers to teach English in the youth centers throughout small towns in Morocco. There, we'd make our homes' for the next two years. My town is called Tameslouht.
