BMA alum takes business experience into the Peace Corps
February 21, 2011
Twenty-seven months. That’s how long one Bradley graduate will spend in a land nearly 2,000 miles away.
Peter Stephan, who double majored in business management and Spanish at Bradley, will take his skills to Masaya, Nicaragua, as a Peace Corps volunteer.
“I really enjoy immersing myself in different cultures and meeting people from different backgrounds,” Stephan said.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace in three main ways, according to the Peace Corps website: by helping to develop third world countries by meeting their need of trained men and women, by sharing a better view of Americans to other nations, and by helping Americans gather a better understanding of other peoples.
“The combination of exploring a new culture and utilizing my talents to help others makes the Peace Corps the perfect opportunity for me,” Stephan said.
He will teach entrepreneurship at two local high schools to get students excited about business and encourage them to participate in competitions similar to Project Springboard, Bradley’s annual business start-up competition.
“I'm looking forward to gaining valuable small business experience and becoming fluent in the Spanish language,” Stephan said.
Stephan had a similar immersion experience in his junior year when he studied abroad in Granada, Spain.
“Bradley's foreign language department offered excellent courses and the study abroad office was very accommodating in allowing me to study overseas,” Stephan said. “The Foster College of Business also gave me the education I needed for the Peace Corps with elective classes like International Management and Social Non-Profit Entrepreneurship.”
From business acumen to foreign language skills to a global perspective and opportunities to explore, Stephan credits Bradley with preparing him for his next endeavor.
“Bradley's education was instrumental in supplying me the tools I will need to succeed in the Peace Corps.“
