Posted: 9/20/06
NB grad off to Middle East
 Paula Miller |
By Steve Morris
Five football seasons ago Paula Miller was cheerleading for the North Branch football team. This fall, she has something a bit more complex in her focus.
Only three months removed from the life of a college student, 22-year-old Miller is about to embark on a journey that will bring her halfway around the globe to a third-world country in the Middle East. On Sept. 30, Miller, a 2002 North Branch high school graduate, leaves for Turkmenistan for a 27-month stint with the Peace Corps.
The trip requires that she learn a new culture and language.
Miller graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., with a nursing degree in May. Her college roommate planted the seed of volunteering with the Peace Corps in Millerís mind. About two years later, the seed blossomed into reality. The ironic thing about it, Miller said, is that her roommate never followed through with the Peace Corps.
Miller, white and Christian, may standout in a muslim country. However, it doesnít bother a smiley and friendly Miller. She is hoping to bridge the cultural gap between the Middle East and the West.
ìI am looking forward to meeting a new culture,î she said.
But, she knows the experience will test her beliefs.
ìMy faith will be challenged.î
She is no stranger to world travel. Miller has spent time in more than 10 different countries.
Because she just graduated from college, Miller has not held a regular nursing job ñ but that will change in a couple of months. While in Turkmenistan she will put her nursing degree to use by helping with community health. One day she may help with delivering a baby and the next day she may teach school children the importance of washing their hands.
The first three months Miller will spend in the capital of Turkmenistan training. From there, she is placed in a village where she will live with a local family and work in community health.
The Peace Corps will pay for Millerís food and lodging and provide her with a stipend. When she returns, in the fall of 2009, she will get a $6,000 readjustment allowance. She is allowed one flight home for emergency; paid for by the Peace Corps. Additional flights home Miller will have to fund herself. However, Miller said she is allowed to have friends and family visit her.
When she returns, Miller has aspirations to go to graduate school.
Miller is going with an open mind.
ìI am expecting the worst and hoping for the best,î she said.
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