Not many graduates can say they have witnessed the first elections after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, run a marathon, helped fight domestic violence, assisted in the development of student services and learned Romanian via instant immersion. But Tufts alum Trent Ruder (LA '02), recently back from a two-year stint in Romania, accomplished all of those during his time with the Peace Corps.
Ruder said that the experience challenged him in ways that nobody would ever expected to be challenged. Ruder's choice of Romania as his destination came at the end of an "arduous" 14-month process with a "behemoth" of an application. Ruder selected Eastern Europe as his desired destination partly based on the opportunity for more complex projects.
"They are way more complicated," he said. "In Africa you're building a latrine, helping renovate the room of a school. We were working at the level of civil society development."
Curiosity about the region also drove his decision. "I was fascinated with Eastern Europe," Ruder said. Some more basic concerns also factored into the choice: "To be honest, I was not interested in spending two years in a mud hut taking malaria pills."
Ruder spent his time in Alba Iulia, Romania, a university town in the province of Transylvania. While there, he worked primarily with a student group, Student League of University 1 December 1918.
"In Tufts terms, it would be like combining TCU Senate and the Leonard Carmichael Society, and then throwing in some of the social stuff like Spirit of Color," Ruder said. "We were trying to improve women's rights and prevent domestic violence and develop an internship program. There was no Student Services."
Ruder initially expected to learn the language quickly. "Romania looked perfect," he said. "I had learned Spanish in high school and Italian at Tufts, and Romanian is a Romance language."
But upon his arrival in Romania, Ruder's previous confidence in the language faded. "I knew how to say 'goodbye,'" Ruder said. "The beginning was quite an adventure." Some more humorous misunderstandings also resulted from common Romanian words sounding similar to English curse words.
"I've been back for three months, and I'm happy and proud that I have not forgotten Romanian," Ruder said.
Vocabulary and language difficulties were only one portion of the communication issue: cultural background presented Ruder and his co-workers with another challenge. "You come with a ton of
cultural baggage - the way you process information, the way you respond is through these cultural lenses of being an American," Ruder said.
"You may approach a problem from radically different points of view," said Ruder, noting that because this results in a variety of ideas about solutions to problems, "it can be a challenge as well as a benefit."
For Ruder, another major challenge was maintaining momentum. "The biggest problem is getting things off the ground and keeping things moving," said Ruder, adding that patience and a self-starting attitude are helpful traits for prospective volunteers.
Depending upon a student's interests and career goals, the Peace Corps can prove a valuable way to gain experience. For Ruder, the Peace Corps was an introduction to the field of international development. He noted that the array of Peace Corps programs make it suitable for a variety of interests.
"I think for students interested in working in non-profits and NGOs [non-governmental organizations], it's a good thing to do," Ruder said. "For students doing any sort of international work at all, it's a good thing to do. You have a chance to create your own role, business, government - you can work in a mayor's office if you're interested."
Yet Ruder does not believe the experience is for everyone. Students, he said, must enter into it with full knowledge of the undertaking, as well as alternative ways to gain experience in a given field.
"I would give serious thought to internships in [Washington] D.C.," he said. "Each route has its own advantages. Transitioning out of Peace Corps isn't necessarily the easiest - investigating the field you're interested in is something you should do even if you want to become an international development worker; you should see that you're choosing Peace Corps over other options."
"I'm glad I did the Peace Corps," Ruder said. "It's given me an understanding and experience on the career that I'd like to have in international development."
