On My Hometown High School Paper

My hometown high school paper recently asked me for some information about myself for an article they are going to publish. This is roughly what I had to say:

My name is Brendan Moroso and I am currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Morocco.

I Attended Terra Nova High School in Pacifica, California from ’99 – ’03. I was active in the drama department, I played Badminton all four years and I graduated with honors in June ’03. What I am most proud of from my time at Terra Nova was founding the water polo team my sophomore year along with eight others.

I am also an Eagle Scout from Troop 264.

After high school I attended the University of California, Santa Cruz. During my undergrad I spent a quarter in Washington DC where I interned for the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee, Subcommittee for Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations. I did my junior year abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. I spent a quarter studying in Freiburg, Germany and I graduated early in March ‘07 with a BA in History.

Following that I earned an MA in War Studies from King’s College London.

During my summers I worked at Camp Unalayee in the Trinity Alps near Mount Shasta.

Following two months of Pre Service Training I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) November 12^th, 2009. I am in the Youth Development sector, which means I work with Moroccan Youth as well as Moroccan Youth service providers to create more opportunities for the youth in my community, province, region and country. Some examples of this are an English Language Spring Emersion Camp I worked at in Marrakech in March 2010. What I am most proud of in this area of my work is the pen pal program I set up between Al farabi High School and my alma matter Terra Nova High School through the Coverdell World Wide Schools program. I am looking forward to improving and expanding this program during the ’10 –’11 school year as well as organizing my province’s first ever spring camp right here in my little town.

Apart from my work in this sector I also serve as a cultural bridge between the people of Morocco and the people of America. It is a great honor to represent Pacifica, California and America to the people I meet here. It is also good fun to tell stories about my adventures here to my friends, family and readers back home.

On the whole I feel like Peace Corps service is one of those experiences where you have a lot of rough days but when you take a moment you look back and think “Eight months ago I did not even know that this language, this valley, or these people existed, and now here I am, one of them.” And that’s an exciting feeling.