Hi there! My name is Teryn, and I'm from Columbus, Ohio. When I was in sixth grade, I dreamed of becoming an outer space soldier like my favorite storybook character, Ender Wiggin, from the Ender's Game books. Ender was brave, smart, and helped the people he loved. I wanted to be just like him! Eleven-year-old me waited for the day a military space recruiter would come knocking on my front door, asking me to serve my country.
Now, I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho, Africa. I live more than 8,000 miles away from home. To me, traveling the world feels like living in outer space because I'm so far away from home. I get to help people every day, like the heroes in the books I love, by teaching kids English, Math, and Health. I'm helping the school where I teach to build a library for the kids and teachers. I hope that someday the students will fall in love with books like I did when I was in elementary school.
I like to read, learn new languages, listen to music, and run. In Lesotho, I can do all of these things. I read storybooks to kids in my class, and I'm learning to speak Sesotho (the language of Lesotho). Also, since the Basotho (people of Lesotho) love to sing, I get to listen to their music at school assemblies, community celebrations, church, and funerals.
Lesotho is called the "Mountain Kingdom in the Sky" because there are so many high mountains. I like to run up and down the mountains for fun. If you ask me, living in the sky is like living in outer space. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I feel like I'm making eleven-year-old me very proud because I'm working as a peace maker.
Peace Corps Volunteers like me live and work side by side with community members around the world, collaborating on locally prioritized projects, building relationships, exchanging cultures and knowledge, and helping transform lives for generations. Learn more by clicking here.
