Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Peace Corps adds Mass. Volunteer

Elizabeth Miller, a native of Westford, MA, is currently on her way to Saint Lucia to begin a week long orientation for the Peace Corps. From there she will depart for her assignment in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with no plans on returning home for more than two years. Miller will spend the next three months living with a host family familiarizing herself with the culture and language.

Miller is a 2010 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in crime and justice. After eight months of writing essays, interviewing and passing a number of tests, including a medical, a legal, and a dental, she was notified of her acceptance. After training, Miller will begin working with at-risk youths with a focus on HIV awareness, employment skills, basic literacy, internet technology, and women’s empowerment.

Improving the lives of children and young adults is leading Miller on a divergent career path from what she studied in college. “I’m still trying to figure it all out. I love kids and volunteering,” she told the Lowell Sun.
During her senior year of college, Miller spent a semester abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She volunteered three days a week at a prison for boys ages 13 to 17.

According to the Peace Corps New England Office, Miller joins the 225 Massachusetts residents currently serving. More than 7,552 Massachusetts residents have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.

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