Get Recognized for Your Service
Service is a large part of the culture at the University of Mary Washington. Students have been recognized for the volunteer hours they log through the Community Outreach and Resources program. Professors are recognized incorporating service projects into the curriculum. And, Mary Washington is consistently recognized for having one of the largest number of alumni serving in the Peace Corps. Jennifer Davis is one of many alumni who makes a difference through the Peace Corps today.
When Jennifer Davis wants to email her family or go to the market, she has two options—ride her bike approximately 15 miles to the nearest town or take a horse cart. A 2008 graduate of Mary Washington, Davis is learning to appreciate a simpler way of life as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in a small village in Mali, West Africa.
As an environment volunteer since September 2008, Davis works with the villagers to help market non-timber forest products like shea butter. She also helps improve their nutrition by teaching sound gardening techniques and works to protect local park lands by encouraging the villagers to plant trees.
Her journey from the brick walkways of Mary Washington to the unpaved roads of Mali started her junior year when she attended a Peace Corps information session in Chandler Hall. Although a semester of study abroad in France made her want to live overseas after graduation, the session at UMW cemented her decision to join the Peace Corps.
As an undergraduate at Mary Washington, Davis volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters, UMW Community Outreach and Resources, and Downtown Greens. While at the University, she saw a way to combine her love of community service and of the French language by becoming one of 20 UMW alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps.
“Mary Washington fosters a community of students eager to give back which is the core of the Peace Corps’ mission and of my own values,” she said.
She also found it encouraging that Mary Washington has been consistently named to the Peace Corps’ list of top-producing colleges and universities.
Her experience has come full-circle. An art history and French double major, Davis recently had the opportunity to meet Malian photographer Malick Sidibe, the subject of her senior art history thesis.
“He, like the vast majority of Malians I’ve met, was incredibly welcoming and was as interested in my culture as I in his,” she said.
Davis, who will be serving in Mali until September 2010, hopes to attend graduate school in museum administration and contemporary art with the goal of working for the State Department.