Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Impact Abroad

The Peace Corps and the Fulbright program bring recent grads to all corners of the globe.

BY NATALIA ST. LAWRENCE ’16 AND ANDREW WICKENDEN ’09

HWS has a long tradition of international service and educational exchange. The most recent alumni to take up that mantle are Grace Bott ’23, the recipient of a 2024 U.S. Student Fulbright Award to Taiwan, and Alanson Loomis ’24 and Ahmed Wise ’24, who will serve as Peace Corps volunteers in Fiji and Kenya, respectively.

An economics and Asian studies double-major, Bott looks forward to combining her love of language and teaching thanks to the Fulbright. As an English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan, she hopes to challenge herself while mentoring students “as they figure out their futures and themselves.”

When she returns, Bott plans to pursue a graduate degree in economics, focusing on research in poverty, economic development and immigration to increase international understanding. “I want to make a difference in my community,” she says, “and a Fulbright Grant will provide me with an unforgettable, immersive experience to build a home and be a positive change wherever I am in the world.”

Loomis, an economics major, begins his Peace Corps training in Fiji’s capital, Suva, before moving to a rural village to support local organizations, small businesses and youth groups as a Community Economic Development Facilitator.

Wise, an educational studies and movement studies double-major, will serve as a Community Health Outreach Volunteer in Kenya.

Both he and Loomis say that their coursework — and a little encouragement from President Mark D. Gearan, former Director of the Peace Corps — helped convince them that the opportunity to serve abroad was the right next step.

Loomis says that “International Macroeconomics” with his adviser Associate Professor of Economics H. Evren Damar “definitely sparked my interest in working abroad,” and President Gearan “gave me really helpful insights about the program.”

Wise came away from his conversations with President Gearan with a sense of the impact the Peace Corps can have. “[H]e wants to give back and serve whatever community he’s in,” Wise says of Gearan. “I was able to see myself in that description. I’m blessed because I’ve had people who want to see me be great, and I want to have a similar impact on young people.”