After four years of living in isolated Hanover, N.H., senior Brent Laffoon decided he was not ready to make the most of the world's opportunities -- instead, he wants to change it.
Laffoon will be fulfilling a dream next September when he joins the Peace Corps.
"It's a chance to see another part of the world and learn about a culture completely foreign to our own," he said. "Also, as much as I will be learning about a new country, I will also be learning about myself."
The senior from Miami, Fla. is unsure of where he will be working in the fall, but believes he may be teaching English somewhere in Asia or the Pacific Rim, possibly in Mongolia.
"I feel it's important to explore what's out there and this is an ideal time in my life to do it," he said.
Laffoon credits the Dartmouth Plan for "piquing his interest to travel."
While he was a student, he completed a Tucker fellowship in Nicaragua, a Foreign Study Program in Argentina and took an off-term in Costa Rica.
In addition, as a Spanish major, Laffoon seized the opportunity to work with Professor John Rassias.
"He is an amazingly enthusiastic man and watching him work has really got me excited to teach. I think the Peace Corps is an ideal place to start," Laffoon said.
Laffoon worked for the WFRD and WDCR radio stations while at Dartmouth.
He pursued and explored the Peace Corps opportunity without the assistance of the College, reaping a benefit that many seniors might envy.
"The Peace Corps is fairly easy to contact, so I didn't have to spend a lot of time in Career Services," he said.
