International Studies and English grad embarks on Peace Corps trip

Friday, May 15, 2015

Nicky Fish with parents at graduation ceremony
Nicky Fish celebrates her 2014 graduation from the College
of Liberal Arts & Sciences with her parents.

While some University of Iowa students hopped on a plane to spend spring break at a beach, UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences graduate, Nicky Fish, also traveled across seas, but with plans to stay. 

Fish was accepted into the Peace Corps and departed to Indonesia on March 14 to begin training as a secondary English education volunteer. 

"I've been blessed with an education and endless resources and I'm really hoping to give back to those who haven't had the chances I have," Fish said in a press release. "Peace Corps is honestly the perfect combination for what I want in my life right now - a chance to travel and live abroad while also getting to work on my teaching skills and hopefully do some good."

Fish graduated from the University of Iowa in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in International Studies and English from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She studied abroad in Shanghai and volunteered as an English teacher her junior year.

During the first three months of her service, she will live with a host family in Indonesia to learn the local language and integrate into the local culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills, she will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in the Indonesia where she will serve for two years.

The Peace Corps sends Americans abroad on behalf of the United States to tackle the most pressing needs of people around the world. Volunteers work at the grassroots level to develop sustainable solutions that address challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment and youth development. Fish joins the 107 Peace Corps volunteers in Indonesia working with communities on education projects. During their service in Indonesia, volunteers learn to speak Bahasa Indonesian. More than 245 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Indonesia since the program was established in 1963.

For more information contact Heather Mangan with the Peace Corps Midwest Regional Office at hmangan@peacecorps.gov.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.