March 18, 2021
Stacia Martin chose her major at Shawnee State University to help her pursue her goal to help lower income communities access health care. Enrolling in the Bachelor of Health Science program, Martin found a place to develop her education and skills while exploring the possibilities of where her career could take her.
“My passion has always been to help people and give them the resources they need,” she said.
Martin was a four-year member of the university’s volleyball program where she improved not just her skills on the court but also as a leader and role model among her teammates as she embraced the different personalities and playing techniques on her team. Graduating from SSU in the Fall of 2019, Martin decided to join the Peace Corps to start her career in helping people.
“I wanted to join the Peace Corps to learn how the health care system of another country was ran, but also to learn new cultures and aspects of the world,” said Martin, who first learned of the U.S. government program while working at the Portsmouth Ohio Health Department the summer before her final semester at SSU.
For her assignment, she was sent to South Africa where during her training she lived in a village named Thabakhubedu in the Limpopo Region. While there, Martin had the title of Community HIV/AIDs Outreach Coordinator. Her role was to work with her host country to promote peace and build relationships between the cultures while helping to educate the youth about HIV. Arriving in January of 2020, Martin spent three months training and immersing herself with her host family and community.
“I attended language classes every day and learned to speak one of eleven national languages called Sotho, also known as Sepedi,” she said, while also training in specific topics regarding health, safety/security, and culture in the region.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in mid-March 2020, the Director of the Peace Corps ordered all 6,000+ U.S. volunteers around the world to be evacuated home. Martin was given two and a half days to pack up her things and say her goodbyes to her host community before returning to the U.S. She and her cohort were only two weeks away from completing their training period.
“Although I did not get a chance to start any projects in a community, during training we were grouped together to do practicums for three days,” she said. “My group and I chose to teach about how HIV spreads as well as how to set priorities and goals for their futures. During this experience, I learned a lot about teaching and facilitating.”
Once returning stateside, Martin and her cohort were allowed to be sworn-in and officially named Peace Corps Volunteers even though they hadn’t yet completed their training periods. While not currently planning to return to the Peace Corps, Martin wanted to continue the pursuit of her career goals by enrolling in a Master of Public Health program.
“After leaving South Africa, I decided I wanted to further my education in Public Health,” she said. “I want to excel my knowledge in non-profit organizations.”
Even though her time was cut short in the Peace Corps, Martin is thankful for the experience she was able to receive in South Africa and within the program.
“Building relationships with my host family was a memory that I will never forget,” she said. “They made me feel very comfortable and accepted within the community we were in and I know that one day when I visit South Africa, I have a family to come back to.”
This spotlight is part of an ongoing series by the SSU Alumni Association in celebration of the university’s 35 Years milestone. To learn more about alumni making a difference in their careers, visit shawneestatealumni.com for more features.