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Hi, my name's Adam Fivenson. I am a University Extension student
and also a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic.
My job is as a tech, administrator and teacher for a small computer
education foundation in an area called San Felipe de Villa Mella which is in
the outskirts of Santo Domingo, the capital. During college,
I studied abroad in Spain. After college, I moved to New Delhi, India to work
and over time, just decided that I wanted to do
things in foreign cultures or rather in foreign countries, where I always
felt like.. I was constantly learning new things both about the world and
about myself. Being here as a Peace Corps volunteer,
in the Dominican Republic has been absolutely incredible. My plan
right now is to start a Masters Program in either International Affairs or Public Policy
in the fall of 2012. The reason that I signed up
to UEX - to University Extension - was to take
Micro and Macro Economics, which were two classes that I found, that
these sorts of schools -International Affairs and Public Policy - both required
of their admittees. As a Peace Corps volunteer,
I don't know when I am going to have electricity, much less internet, so the
ability to complete my lessons at my own pace
on a computer, and.. you know, without having to have internet or other connections
was a deciding factor for me. I took
Micro Economics and Macro Economics, both introductory, through
UEX and having taken both of these courses really changed my
perspective on a lot of the things that I read.
I actually understand what.. what debt really means,
what a deficit is, all these things that I learned from the courses..
They've been really.. they've been really enlightening.
I've signed up three other Peace Corps volunteers here in the Dominican Republic to do the same class
because a lot of Peace Corps volunteers are interested in public policy
and international affairs degrees. So definitely worth it
and definitely well administered.
So where do I see myself in 20 years? In 20 years,
I would be hopefully running my own NGO or think tank or
organization that is focused on improving governance in places like this..
like San Felipe de Villa Mella. So for me,
it was incredibly convenient to be able to continue my
work with the Peace Corps and also at the same time be a student
at University Extension. Anyone can have an idea,
of where they are going. What's really important is the diligence to make decisions
every single day that will get you to where you want to be. For me,
that meant taking this course through University Extension while I was doing my Peace Corps
work and being consistent.
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