WASHINGTON, May 22nd, 2017 – Anna Pettee, 22, of Guilford, has been accepted into the Peace Corps and will depart for China in June to begin training as an English teaching volunteer. Pettee will live and work in a community, teaching spoken and written English at the post-secondary level.
Pettee was inspired to apply to the Peace Corps’ program in China by her personal history as well as her professional goals. “I was adopted from China and have always felt a pull towards that vast country” she said. “When I was accepted to serve in China, the country where I was adopted from, I knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime in many ways.”
Pettee is the daughter of Joan Peters and Arthur Pettee of Guilford, Vermont, and a graduate of Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. She then attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she earned a B.S. Global Health in May 2017. Prior to joining the Peace Corps, she interned at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, the Federal City Council in Washington, DC, and the Population Reference Bureau.
During the first three months of her service, Pettee will live with a host family in China to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the necessary skills to assist her community, Pettee will be sworn into service and assigned to a community where she will live and work for two years with the local people.
“I would like to continue discerning my passions and interests in the world by exploring China and immersing myself in my new community. I would like to succeed in my primary task of teaching my students English and introducing them to Western culture. I would also like to improve my Mandarin skills and start an ultimate frisbee team at my university!” Pettee said.
Pettee will work in cooperation with the local people and partner organizations on sustainable, community-based development projects that improve the lives of people in The Peoples Republic of China and help Pettee develop leadership, technical and cross-cultural skills that will give her a competitive edge when she returns home. Peace Corps volunteers return from service as global citizens well-positioned for professional opportunities in today’s global job market.
Vermont ranks No.1 among states with the highest number of Peace Corps volunteers per capita Pettee joins the 52 Vermont residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 1,556 Vermont residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.
There has never been a better time to apply to Peace Corps, and reforms have made the process simpler, faster, and more personalized than ever before. In 2014, applications reached a 22-year high for the agency, with more than 17,000 Americans taking the first step toward international service. Through a one-hour online application, applicants can now choose the countries and programs they’d like to be considered for. Browse available volunteer positions at www.peacecorps.gov/openings.
About volunteers in China: There are more than 140 Volunteers in China working with their communities on education projects. During their service in China, Volunteers learn to speak Mandarin Chinese. More than 1,160 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in China since the program was established in 1993.
About Georgetown University: Georgetown ranked No. 7 among medium schools on the agency’s 2017 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. Since the Peace Corps’ founding in 1961, 957 Georgetown alums have traveled abroad to serve as volunteers, including 31 alums currently volunteering.
About the Peace Corps: The Peace Corps sends Americans with a passion for service abroad on behalf of the United States to work with communities and create lasting change. Volunteers develop sustainable solutions to address challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment and youth development. Through their Peace Corps experience, Volunteers gain a unique cultural understanding and a life-long commitment to service that positions them to succeed in today’s global economy. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 225,000 Americans of all ages have served in 141 countries worldwide. For more information, visit peacecorps.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Kathryn Fidler
401-252-1161
kfidler@peacecorps.gov
Guilford Resident Begins Peace Corps Service in China
Good news!
Quite an undertaking… and sounds like a good and important step for Anna. Teaching English sounds like it has the potential for more success that, say, teaching people to boil water. (I know a few ex PC officers who tried to teach boiling water for years, with little success.)
Good chance to escape DC (and VT), too.
Didn’t know Vermont has the most Peace Corps volunteers over capita. Good for us.