Grace Harman ’05 has a good reason why she won’t be at her tenth reunion on April 11: she’s serving as a teacher in the Peace Corps in Lesotho, an independent country within South Africa. She does have a special message for her GSFS classmates: “Hello from summertime in a small country in Southern Africa! I hope you are all happy doing whatever you're doing and living wherever you're living. Peace and be well. Much love.”

What made you want to join the Peace Corps?

In my junior year at Goucher College, I spent my spring semester studying abroad in Ghana. After that, I knew I wanted to live abroad for a longer period of time. My adjustment to Ghana was, initially, very hard emotionally - feeling very lost and unsure about who I was, not understanding and getting easily frustrated, the double standards placed on women. At first, all of this felt very personal and very hurtful. It took me about six full weeks to fully adjust. That being said, I fell in love with Ghana. I embraced the collectivist culture that at first felt like nosiness and ended up feeling like support. And by the time I felt like I was just laying down roots and getting a rhythm then it was time to go. So, I knew immediately upon returning that I wanted to live in another country, preferably Ghana, for at least a year if not longer.

Did you know you were interested in teaching before you joined?

Before going I had some experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults at the Nationalities Service Center and I also got my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teaching certification through an online program. Some of this was to strengthen my Peace Corps application and some of it was because I found I really loved teaching ESL. It was kind of random-I majored in dance and psychology in college. I started volunteering with NSC and I found that teaching English creatively was invigorating.

Did your GSFS education influence your decision to join Peace Corps?

My GSFS education encouraged and fostered in me great critical thinking skills and a compassion for other people. In some ways, there was an outward focus at GSFS - I certainly was aware of the larger world outside of the U.S. I never had any aspirations to be a teacher - that sort of just happened.

Where are you in the school year?

It is the beginning of the school year here. Unlike the U.S., the school year is based on an actual year, so it is the 2015 school year right now.

Describe life skills classes. 

Life skills classes are a mix of self-esteem and sex-education. All students in Lesotho from 4th grade on are supposed to have weekly life skills classes, but in reality this doesn't often happen. The students at my school have never had life skills, so I will be starting from square one with them. In some ways I'm more excited to teach life skills than English because it’s so important, both for the students individually and because the rate of HIV and AIDS here is the 2nd highest in the world. 

What is the most noticeable way you have grown as a person from living in Lesotho so far?

Because of my experience in Ghana I adjusted to the culture here very easily. There are some ways I've changed. I don't pet dogs at all anymore because they may have rabies and could bite me. I've learned a lot of things - how to garden, how to make bread without an oven. But personal growth is hard to measure this early on. It's funny, if this were my study abroad experience I would be getting ready to leave. But in the span of two years, four months is nothing.