New Peace Corps Fellows Program at MIIS “Exceeding Expectations”

December 7, 2012

Christopher Voerg-Jones (MPA ’14) says his three-year experience as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Bulgaria helped him develop skills that he is now honing further in his chosen graduate degree program of Public Administration. When he started the program in the fall he had his sights on specializing in international development with a focus on human rights and has now broadened his scope to include an interest in social entrepreneurship. “It would be great if I could mix international development, human rights and social change all into one career,” he says.

As a Peace Corps Fellow, Christopher receives financial support to pursue a graduate degree at the Monterey Institute, a chosen partner school in the prestigious Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship Program, as well as the guarantee of a substantive professional internship. In its first semester at the Monterey Institute, the very competitive program has five participating students.

So far the program is “exceeding expectations” for Christopher, who says he has had “great professors dedicated to providing high quality education to their students,” and enjoys the “diverse student population, where it is common to hear five or six languages spoken any given day.” As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) he also appreciates the company of “so many other RPCV’s or future PCV’s trying to make the world a better place.”

One of the quotes that Christopher lives by is this proverb: “Look at what you’ve got and make the best of it. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” At the Monterey Institute, we call that “being the solution”!

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