Troy High Graduate Begins Peace Corps Service Overseas

Source: Peace Corps Midwest Region

Watching her seventh-grade science teacher in Troy, Mich., share photos and stories from his Peace Corps service ignited a desire in Alexis Cullen to join the Peace Corps herself one day. Some 15 years later, her dream is coming to fruition alongside her husband, Steven. The Ann Arbor residents will depart Jan. 23 to begin training in Vanuatu, where they will live and work at the community level during their 27-month international assignment.

As an English education volunteer, Steven, 27, will teach conversational and content-based English to middle- and high-school students. Alexis, 29, will help local health workers teach community members about maternal and child health, basic nutrition and sanitation, and other pressing health issues.

Alexis, a graduate of Troy High School, earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. Alexis also earned a graduate certificate in the Foundations of Public Health from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and has worked as an ophthalmic imaging specialist and helped researchers at U-M validate new remote eye care cameras.

“Professionally, I would like to use my background in eye care to work on getting glasses to my community,” Alexis said. “There are many places where refractive error alone can leave someone blind, even when a simple pair of glasses are all that they need.”

Steven, originally from Fraser, Mich., graduated from Fraser High School in 2004. He attended Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., earning a bachelor’s degree in international business and logistics in 2009 and a Master’s of Business Administration in 2010. He has worked as a business development manager at NSF International since 2010. Both Steven and Alexis have also made a difference in Ann Arbor by tutoring Latino families through U-M’s PALMA program.

“The ability to work at the grassroots level and be part of a developing community, rather than watching from a distance, motivated me to serve,” Steven said.

During the first three months of their service, the Cullens will live with a host family in Vanuatu to learn the local language and integrate into the local culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills that will help them make a lasting difference, they will be sworn into service and assigned to a community in Vanuatu to serve for two years.

The couple will work in cooperation with local counterparts and partner organizations on sustainable, community-based development projects that improve the lives of people in Vanuatu and provide leadership, technical, and cross-cultural skills that will give the volunteers a competitive edge when they return home.

“I am excited to immerse in a new culture, to learn the language, to learn the local customs, and shift my world perspective,” Alexis said. “I’m glad to be doing this with my husband by my side so we can laugh with each other when we make cultural blunders and support each other on the tough days.”

The Cullens join the 271 Michigan residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. More than 6,988 Michigan residents have served as volunteers since the agency was created in 1961. Ann Arbor is also a top metro area, per capita, for Peace Corps volunteers, ranking No. 7 this year.