<n Leibowitz ’13 has made his mark at Carleton organizing KnightLife events, talking about the Chinese particle “Ba” and making very good imitations of cats purring. Yet soon he will join the peace corps as he goes to China to teach English and leave his mark abroad working for the Peace Corps.
More specifically, Leibowitz will have a three month orientation in Chengdu, in Sichuan province and afterwards, will teach at a university within 750 miles of the city.
““There are a lot of reasons why I want to teach with Peace Corps,” said Evan, “but probably the biggest is the chance to integrate into a new culture and really learn a lot about another part of the world, while making new friends and representing my own experiences and backgrounds to the people I meet.”
Evan has had many experiences that will prepare him for this trip: serving as a Residential Assistant and on the Committee on Student Life. “As a linguistics major, I like thinking about languages as formal systems and understanding differences between languages like English and Chinese, which could help me teach English as a foreign language,” he said. The orientation will also contain intensive training on teaching and the Chinese language.
“Once I get to my site, I’ll be living in an apartment at the university,” said Evan, “it sounds sort of similar to being a Language Assistant at Carleton.” In addition to teaching, he plans on hiking, adventuring and learning Chinese music.
Truly, a great Carleton student Evan will have such great experiences and such a positive impact while in China. Indeed, he says, “I see myself as a world citizen more than as an American, and I’m excited to experience life in a new part of the world.”