Meghan Henshall '12 serves in Cambodia as a Community Health Education volunteer for the Peace Corps. "I work at the local health center in the mornings and spends the afternoons going door-to-door or fruit-stand-to-fruit-stand talking with people," she said. "I enjoy learning the Khmer language and reaching out to as many people as possible and being part of another community." Henshall applied to the Peace Corps the summer before her senior year with her sights set on public health, particularly maternal and child health. When she received her nomination and placement, she said, "There was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to work on the grassroots level with people to improve their health and well-being."
Everyone in The Center for Global Engagement at Kenyon was very influential when it came to encouraging me to apply for the Peace Corps. Marne Ausec, Lisa Swaim, Patti Maiorino, and Kim Smith helped me through every step of the process, and the Health and Counseling Center staff was wonderful when it came to filling out all my medical forms.
My study-abroad experience with the School for International Training piqued my interest in the Peace Corps. In the fall of my junior year, I went to Nepal, where I completed a month-long research project about maternal and child health providers. When I returned to Kenyon, I took Professor Jan Thomas's class on "Society and Illness," and Visiting Professor Holly Donahue Singh's class on "Healing in Southeast Asia." Those classes—and Professor Marta Sierra's "Transnational Feminisms" class—inspired me to look at global engagement at a grassroots level. My relationships with those professors and with the staff at the Center for Global Engagement gave me the support to prepare me for a new phase in life.
Kenyon's admissions essays were different and a breath of fresh air. When I visited campus for the first time, I felt very welcomed and at ease. I knew I would be able to make Kenyon my home for four years and now, of course, I miss it.