Lilly Wilcox has been interested in international volunteer opportunities since learning about her aunt’s experience in the Peace Corps. But after digging deeper into the colonialist ethos of the Peace Corps’ history for a research paper, she realized she disagreed with the premise of American superiority that is so often promoted during international service programs.
“Going abroad to volunteer shouldn’t be about centering ourselves as Americans,” says Wilcox, who will travel to Slovakia in September to teach English as part of the U.S. Fulbright Student Program. “It’s about empowering those we have the privilege of working with.” As a teaching assistant at a Slovakian high school, Wilcox hopes to help students develop their language skills without eschewing the national language or pushing the idea that English is the most important language to speak, she says.
