Next Steps 2025...

Those of you who know me well know that I was never content to stay in one place for too long. As I was reaching the middle of my Peace Corps service, I started to look into graduate degrees. I knew even before I started the Peace Corps that I wanted to continue my education in the Political Science and Development field. Starting in March 2024, I had a list, and then from December 2024 to January 2025, I received my answers.

I applied to 2 Coverdell schools, Rotary, Fulbright, and 4 US universities, respectively

• Notre Dame University X

• University of Oregon. X

• University of Sydney. ✔️

• National Tsing Hua University. ✔️

• Tufts University ✔️

• Syracuse University ✔️

• American University ✔️

• George Washington University ✔️

  

I was accepted to all the schools except the two Coverdell programs, but my decision was already made. As I still am paying off my undergrad student loans, I promised myself I would not take out any more until I was financially secure. Even though I didn't get the Fulbright Scholarship, National Tsing Hua University offered me a full scholarship of free tuition and $700 a month for the entire two years of the master's program, including summer. I was so surprised and happy that I wouldn't have to take out student loans. My honorable mentions were Syracuse and Tufts, both offering me 70% scholarships, and the programs looked great, but Taiwan has my heart.

https://www.tse.nthu.edu.tw/page/masters-programs

The program in Taiwan is new; it started just before COVID, mirroring the London School of Economics. The program is fully in English with 30+ international students in a class of approximately 40 people. It's a total of 28 credits, including 4 Chinese language courses. There are three specializations: Asian Political Economy, Global Political Economy, and Economic Development. I chose the Asian Political Economy route, but many classes are interchangeable.

I attended a Zoom call with the student council at TSE, and they talked about the good class sizes and international experience. Also, the many interesting courses like “World order and Globalization”, “Chinese Development Model in Comparative Perspectives”, and “STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA - The Case Study in Postwar Taiwan”. All of these classes sound up my alley, and while I haven't been in a class setting for 2.5 years, I was assured by the current students that it's easy to get back into the grind, and they all support each other. The school is all in one building and hosts many events and speakers! A lot of professors are from abroad and have lots of expertise, even some professors are from the schools I applied to in the US, so I am barely missing out, hah.

I have been studying Mandarin little by little, but to be honest, I have been super busy these past few months, leaving Benin, having doctor's appointments, and vacations. I need to get on that! But I received my visa, and everything is set for me to leave soon!

Charlie (my boyfriend, whom I met in the Peace Corps, who lived a nice 20-minute motorcycle ride away, and in America is only 2.5 hours away) is joining me, and we will start our next journey together next month. I am very excited to be departing for Taiwan on August 14th, where I will be in Taipei for 11 days with Charlie during his teacher training, and then find an apartment in Hsinchu, where we will live together. (Nothing like my cockroach house in Benin and sharing a twin bed in 90 degrees, hehehe). For those of you who worry about me and politics and all this, I want to say don't worry too much because I will not be alone, and I think I have proven myself to be capable in the last 3 years of living abroad in diverse conditions. Regardless, having Charlie with me is a huge relief. I am nervous since I am not going to school through an exchange program or with a third party; it is just me. I have to find out how to do each part of the paperwork and settling in myself, but I know I have someone to count on and help me or just be by my side when things are stressful (:

My expected timeline is to be in Taiwan until 2028 and find some sort of internship or job with an NGO. We will see what is in store for me later!