As she neared the day she would receive her diploma, ASU graduate Julie Ryan was wavering about her commitment to join the Peace Corps.
The Spring 2009 commencement speech delivered by President Barack Obama changed that.
“As soon as she heard him speak, she told us she was going where ever Peace Corps sent her,” says Dave Ryan, Julie’s father.
Julie was assigned to a tiny village called Le Paz Centro, about 30 miles south of Leon, Nicaragua. In May, Dave and his wife Fran made the trip to visit the Central American country, spending several days with Julie in her village and watching her interact with her teaching counterparts and the kids in her school.
“Julie has blossomed incredibly in this environment and has complete command of the language, customs, and respect of the people she teaches and supports,” Dave Ryan says. “This passion for service was with her from a young age but it really came together at ASU!”
The family also journeyed to Ometepe in the southern part of Nicaragua — an island formed by two volcanoes that sits in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. They spent several days sightseeing and enjoying spectacular views, like a 500-foot cascading waterfall tumbling from the side of a volcano.
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