Home country: Togo, West Africa
Years in United States: 10

What does working at New Paltz and in the United States mean to you?

At New Paltz, I go to classes and talk to students about studying abroad, which is something I enjoy doing. I am a product of that kind of international education. I go to students and I talk to them about me being African, studying abroad in the U.S. and working here and serving the global community.

My approach to working with young people is to create opportunities to participate in what’s going on in the world by going there, challenging themselves, to live and work in someone else’s country. We see more and more students now not only go to a classroom and study, but at the same time go outside of the classroom, do something in the field and connect that to what is learned in the classroom. That experience is life-changing for many of them.

Now I ask myself, how can I be here and be of use for people over there [in Togo]? To me, international education is the only way I can contribute to communities here in the U.S. and all around the world.

For me, it’s a privilege to be able to study here and work here, and have experience here, and work with people to learn their culture.