Internationally Local

I don’t really know how to start this whole thing, so I’m just going to go for it.

My name is Travis Pringle, and earlier this year I was a freelance reporter with Patch.

I’m a graduate from the University of Missouri with degrees in English and history. I grew up in the Florissant area, going to high school at and returning home after I completed college.  I love the Florissant and St. Louis areas, and for the longest time Missouri was the only home I knew. Now I have a new one, and it’s on the other side of the planet.

Now, I serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in the town of Ankazobe in the country of Madagascar. I am an education volunteer, and during the next two years, I will be teaching English to kids in 6eme and 2nde (sixth and tenth grade).

How’d I come about deciding to volunteer my life in another country? It’s a bit of a long story, but in a nutshell, I went to a meeting my freshman year at Mizzou and fell into it. Why not help show the world what America really has to offer?

I’d done a little volunteer work here and there, mainly at Hazelwood Central prepping for graduation (Class of 2005), but this was going to be something completely different. I was going to work basically for free, in another country, leaving everything and everyone I’ve ever known.

Was I stressed leading up to the day I shipped out? Of course. Did it dampen my resolve? Not a bit.

My family, nestled in the quiet village of Belmont in the down-to-earth neighborhood of Barrington Downs, taught me to be respectful of other people, and always extend a helping hand when needed.

As a college graduate, with an American degree, I have the necessary skills to really do some good, and with the Peace Corps that's exactly what I intend to do.

But it’s not just college that prepared me for this. St. Louis, and more importantly Florissant, is one of the best places in the country where anyone could grow up.

We have the resources, diversity, economy and entertainment of any major American city, but with that Midwest hospitality you can’t find anywhere else in the world. We’re more than just polite and homely, we know what it means to help. If I can bring a little of that Midwest sense of things here to Madagascar, I think I’ll count that as a win.

Being in the Peace Corps is about more than just bringing American culture to foreign people. It's about helping Americans experience the culture of foreign people as well. With this blog, I’m hoping that maybe a few other people will be able to share in my experiences and join me in learning what it means to be a true citizen of the world.

I’m going to wrap this up with a quote that my girlfriend, Emily Neubauer, likes to use. It’s from Winston Churchill, and it does a pretty good job summing up what it means to be in the Peace Corps:

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Go Cardinals!