Last Winter Term Middlebury continued to expand its partnership with the Monterey Institute of International Studies by sending a group of students to take intensive graduate-level courses for internship credit both in California and Sierra Leone. Three of the students who participated in this new program came in to the Career Services Office to share their diverse experiences with the program: Sarah Buck ’10, Liz Edouard ’10, and Sughey Ramirez ’10.

CSO: Each of you was in a different class with a different focus. What did you work on?

Sarah: The class I took was called Conservation Leadership Practicum, (CLP) so we focused on all the skills necessary to lead conservation-related projects and organizations. This involved using planning software called Miradi to conceptualize and plan conservation projects as well as doing interviews and field work in the area around Monterey.

Liz: My class was called the Development and Project Management Institute (DPMI) and it was based around solving problems related to international development. The course was broken down into three pieces: learning the technology, learning facilitation skills, and creating a strategic plan including partnerships.

Sughey: My class was quite different from the others in that we traveled to Sierra Leone to apply the theory of conflict resolution and peace building by talking to groups such as special courts, NGO’s, amputees, local leaders, and war widows, just to name a few. We sought to gather information from these experiences and discuss it each night as a way of learning the real-world skills of conflict-resolution and development work.

CSO: What was the best part of the program for you?

Sarah: I was truly amazed by the variety of interesting people in the CLP class. Some were older and many had work experience in the conservation field. Due to a Monterey-Peace Corps program, half of the students in the class had real-world international experience. In addition, we got use the computer modeling software to model specific conservation projects such as those in the Pantanal Wetlands and with Sustainable Cashmere, a project started by a Middlebury grad.

Liz: I really enjoyed the practical aspects of my class. We used collaboration software called Cmap Tools that facilitated collaboration on complex projects like the development-related ones in our class. Our professor, Dr. Levenger, was incredible and not only helped me enjoy my time during Winter Term but convinced me to come back and study at Monterey as a graduate student next year.

Sughey: Although we visited six to eight groups per day, there was one visit that truly stood out in my mind. One day we visited the Aberdeen West African Fistula Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone, which is a hospital built by Mercy Ships for fistula repair in one of the most dangerous places in the world to have children. I was particularly impressed by the quality of the facilities and also by their extensive outreach and awareness efforts, and by the pamphlets they showed us that they give to the local women. It is places like this that give me hope for the future and instill faith in the development process.

CSO: How did you learn about the program and why did you choose it?

Sarah: I was inspired by a lecture given last fall at Middlebury by Dr. Langholtz, professor and academic coordinator for my class, CLP. He mentioned after a fantastic lecture that there would be opportunities for Middlebury students to study at Monterey during Winter Term, so I jumped on the opportunity.

Liz: As an International Studies major here at Middlebury, I was attracted by the academic program of Monterey and their extensive international resources. I was able to get a summer internship at the World Bank as a result of Monterey’s resources, and now I’m going back for grad school!

Sughey: I am also an IS major and I was looking to spend some time away from Middlebury and focus on a more specific international academic area. This course in Sierra Leone was exactly what I was looking for, and it was refreshing to spend time studying outside of Middlebury.

CSO: How do you hope to use what you learned through the Middlebury-Monterey partnership and how do you think it can benefit future MiddKids?

Sarah: I think incorporating talented Middlebury students into Monterey classes is a great idea for both schools. I wish that more Middlebury students could have this great opportunity and that it would be easier and more common to do.

Liz: I think that Middlebury students have so many great ideas but sometimes lack the technical and real-world tools to carry them out. I learned a lot of collaboration skills that I hope to apply to my future work, and I think that increasing the opportunities for MiddKids to learn them at a place like Monterey and in practical classes like DPMI will benefit student activities and involvement here at Middlebury.

Sughey: My class involved a lot of work outside of our short trip, including a documentary and a paper that I will be presenting at a conference in the fall. This was truly a fascinating class that was unlike any I have ever taken at Middlebury. I hope that future MiddKids will be able to take classes like this with the continued financial support of the administration.

CSO: Any advice for next year’s prospective applicants?

Sarah, Liz and Sughey: Go for it!

If you are interested in applying for next year’s program, look out for emails in the fall from CSO about this program. In the meantime, explore the links in the story and check out the MIIS curriculum.

By Peter DiPrinzio ’13, CSO Peer Career Ambassador