Fomer Cohort Members Out in the Field: Julia Richards & Lynn Debilzen

After a year of study at the University of Montana, Cohort members are sent around the world to fulfill internship requirements.

Julia Richards is a member of Cohort IV and is currently working with the Peace Corps in Azerbaijan.  In reflection of her time overseas, Julia stated on her blog, ""And I think this is what makes the difference. I have a life here. And a full life at that. One with friends and family, and friends who are like family. And students, and projects, and students who want to start their own projects. And this is real. A lot of people asked me when I first decided to do Peace Corps "How can you put your life on hold like that for two years?" But, it's not like that for me. This is my life. And while I feel like I am different person than I was 13 months ago, my life is not so much on hold, as it is on "upgrade". And really, how blessed am I to have the great privilege of living a life I never would have known had I not joined Peace Corps? To have the chance to both know and be known as Azeri-Julia."

Check out her blog to read more about her experiences in Azerbaijan-Peace Corps: http://bloggerbaijan.blogspot.com/.

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Lynn Debilzen, a Cohort IV member working with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, recently had one of her articles published in the Peace Corps Times regarding her work with youth and the IYFD program.

Check out her blog to read a copy of the article and hear more about her experiences in the Philippines-Peace Corps:
http://lynns-new-adventures.blogspot.com/

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Featured Cohort VI Student of the Week: Leah Fitch

Growing up in Southwest Ohio, Leah Fitch was sure that she wanted a life outside of the small town world that she had grown up in.  After graduating from Miami University of Ohio in 2005 with a degree in Family Studies, she moved out to Missoula, MT, to volunteer as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the YWCA of Missoula.  She worked with the Transitional Housing program with women and children who have experienced domestic violence.  After working there for two years, she started working at the Big Brothers Big Sisters in Missoula as a Match Support Specialist and starting up and running an after-school program at a local elementary school.  She continues her work as a volunteer with the YWCA doing domestic violence and sexual assault response every week and is the secretary of the Missoula Family Violence Council.  Over the years, she has combined her passion for women's and children's rights and also an interest in peace and conflict resolution in her work and in her studies at the University of Montana.  She is hoping to soon utilize her skills and an interest oversees and is planning on joining the Peace Corps in 2010.

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Featured Cohort VI Student of the Week: Daniel Wirth

Daniel Sunflower Wirth was born and raised in Indianapolis Indiana. In 2001 he graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. He majored in Psychology and minored in French. Following his College graduation he worked for Alternative Youth Adventures (AYA), a wilderness therapy program for adjudicated youth based in Montrose, CO where he held numerous positions. For four years at AYA, he enjoyed enriching and impacting the lives of youth through connecting clients to the wilderness through various educational and experiential methods. After AYA, Dan returned to Durango and worked for Fort Lewis College as an Admission Counselor for four years. Dan made the decision to come to the University of Montana while he was hiking the Colorado Trail with his wife this past summer. Dan has enjoyed his international travel to several countries throughout Europe and Central America. Upon enrolling in this program, Dan’s desire is to further understand and experience cultures within and outside the U.S. Dan would like to focus his studies specifically on male relations and improving the lives and relationships of men, women and children in society. In his free time, Dan enjoys being outside in anyway possible. Everyday Dan bikes to school, on the weekends he can be found backpacking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, climbing, running or watching his favorite football team, the Indianapolis Colts!

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Featured Cohort VI Student of the Week: Rebecca Moss

My name is Rebecca and I am 23 years old.  I graduated from Warren Wilson College (an environmental work college in Asheville, NC) with a B.A. in Psychology.  During my time there, I studied abroad in Budapest, Hungary and different parts of Turkey and Israel. I fell in love with learning as much as possible about cultures.  I am originally from Philly and have experienced the ghettos and projects there and in parts of Alabama. Because of those experiences, I found it imperative to study race and socioeconomic status.  I somewhat understand at-risk kids from rough environments and want to spend a good part of my life studying and working with that population.  I hope to go abroad and work with street kids in the Peace Corps in order to marriage the love of cultural immersion and the love of helping kids.  After the Peace Corps, I hope to figure out how to keep Philly kids in schools (drop-out rate is high).  I delight in dark chocolate, yoga, biking, and my new Cohort VI family.

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Cohort VI

Cohort VI has arrived!!  The IYFD program continues to expand, and it is exciting to have a group of thirteen students in this year's cohort. We will continue to post updates as the year progresses.

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Spring 09 Graduation Speech

Erin Andersons IYFD Graduation Speech

Spring 09

On behalf of the Intercultural Youth and Family Development Program I would like to thank you all for coming and bearing witness to the fact that after months of balancing coursework, finals, internships, professional projects, dissertations, full-time jobs, and somewhat of a social life, we have all finally reached this culminating, and for many, expensive day.

Three weeks ago, I received a call from a brilliant girlfriend of mine who is currently hiking the Appalachian Trail (she is always the friend that regardless of her whereabouts she somehow still manages to keep all of us informed about political and academic conversations taking place throughout the world). She referred me to a recent Op-Ed article in the New York Times written by Mark C. Taylor, the chairman of the religion department at Columbia. The article is entitled “End the University as We Know It.” Taylor states, “GRADUATE education is the Detroit of higher learning. Most graduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market (candidates for teaching positions that do not exist) and develop skills for which there is diminishing demand (research in subfields within subfields and publications in journals read by no one other than a few like-minded colleagues), all at a rapidly rising cost (sometimes well over $100,000 in student loans).” He goes on to offer a six point list of strategies that academia can consider in order to change the infrastructure of our higher educational system. I mention this article not to discredit any of the work that we all have done, but to acknowledge that we are the individuals that will bring about this change and reform in our local and global communities.

In the past two years – and for some of you it has been close to four - we have cried because of social strife and red tape. We have worked with children, youth, and communities who have been endlessly oppressed and whose chance of recovery in their lifetime is often limited. We have witnessed and/or studied emotional and psychological trauma of local and global populations. We have engaged in battles-political and social agendas- where we have been misinformed and misrepresented. We have worked through endless hours of the night to finish a degree knowing that we may find ourselves in an economic, social, or occupational situation that Taylor references. And yet, we have continued to place our hearts on the line for the children, youth, and families we have worked with to make their voices heard. We have researched world issues, written grants, and contacted global and community based organizations in order to become more informed, to find a means to accomplish collective community goals, and to organize programs that promote sustainable social development. We have rallied, stood in line, and sent in absentee ballots to elect national officials who represent a voice of peace and social justice. And, we have invested whatever money we do or do not have in the local economy - in hopes that economic restructuring will happen soon. Our convictions combined with our upset have given us a sense of balance.

One of the most important ideas that I have retained from my IYFD Graduate School experience is also what Taylor presents in his article. Academia is needed because it pushes us to question, “The system” and in order to stand witness to change we need to maintain our resiliency, our open-mindedness, and, to quote Taylor, “create problem-focused programs that are constantly evolving.”

I feel that I am able to speak for my fellow cohort members who are here today, Joshua and Kendra, and those who could not be here Julia, Lynn, Lindsey, Becca, and Laura when I thank all of you: faculty, advisors, families and friends for your tireless dedication to our mental and emotional stability, our individual success and the continued mission to provide a comprehensive program invested in self-awareness and positive social change. So, congratulations to everyone.

I am, definitely, a cynic, but I am also an idealist, and I truly believe that our communities are enriched by our dedicated lifelong pursuit for equality, social justice, healthy families, and comprehensive education. I will end with Taylor’s signature parting note to his students. He states, “Do not do what I do; rather, take whatever I have to offer and do with it what I could never imagine doing and then come back and tell me about it.” So I encourage all of you to use what you know, be innovative, and take action.

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Another Cohort Leaving

Well, we have almost finished another year, and another great one it's been. Students may want to add their 2 cents, but for now I just want to say that we are sending another inspired, hopeful and dedicated group of youth workers out into the world. So far we know that two are headed for Belize. Holly Armstrong is headed there with Peace Corps, and Polly Pillen is going a member of the Jesuit Volunteers. We have 3 other people awaiting their PC assignment, and will update this blog as soon as we have the information. Waganesh, our Ethiopian student, and Felicia, our student from Ghana will both be staying in Missoula and doing their internships with youth in this town.

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