Jérémie Gluckman
Class of 2010
Jérémie Gluckman joined the Peace Corps as he was inspired by the humanitarian mission in promoting cultural exchange and sustainable development. These goals coincided with Jérémie’s, who is passionate about sustainable urban development and community empowerment. Having a strong international education that started at ISTP and continued through high school, his decision to join the Peace Corps was almost inevitable. Coincidently, his ISTP education also offered initial exposure to Chinese culture.
Jérémie’s primary job in the Peace Corps is serving as an education volunteer, teaching English at the Guizhou University of Finance and Economics. He teaches eleven classes and has hundreds of motivated students. Outside of class, Jérémie, a ballet dancer, also offers hip-hop dance lessons to his students. Jérémie fondly shared stories about his daily life in China, including the virtues of patience on his long bus commute into town (of up to 4 hours!), his experience living on very little money, the meaningful relationships he has made with his Chinese friends, his penchant for tasty noodles, and how he has learned to navigate information in a censored media. With all that in mind, he has adapted quite well.
Those who have served overseas can relate to many aspects of Jérémie’s experience: the emphasis on service, the crucial role of cross-cultural understanding, and the complexities of development and change. While individuals with Jérémie’s international consciousness are more open to cultural and personal differences, sometimes it can be challenging to live in a society that, as is true in Jérémie’s case, is less exposed to the LGBTQ community. Jérémie admits that overseas, he is unable to be completely open about being gay. However, armed with a proactive and open spirit, Jérémie still finds a way to honor this aspect of himself and others through convening PeaceOut!, which supports LGBTQ volunteers serving in China.
On January 7th, 2016 we were proud to host Jérémie Gluckman to talk to our middle school about his experience in the Peace Corps. Students listened attentively as he spoke about the humanitarian mission behind the Peace Corps in promoting cultural exchange and sustainable development. His visit exposed our students to the further reaches of an international education.
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Jérémie’s primary job in the Peace Corps is serving as an education volunteer, teaching English at the Guizhou University of Finance and Economics. He teaches eleven classes and has hundreds of motivated students. Outside of class, Jérémie, a ballet dancer, also offers hip-hop dance lessons to his students. Jérémie fondly shared stories about his daily life in China, including the virtues of patience on his long bus commute into town (of up to 4 hours!), his experience living on very little money, the meaningful relationships he has made with his Chinese friends, his penchant for tasty noodles, and how he has learned to navigate information in a censored media. With all that in mind, he has adapted quite well.
Those who have served overseas can relate to many aspects of Jérémie’s experience: the emphasis on service, the crucial role of cross-cultural understanding, and the complexities of development and change. While individuals with Jérémie’s international consciousness are more open to cultural and personal differences, sometimes it can be challenging to live in a society that, as is true in Jérémie’s case, is less exposed to the LGBTQ community. Jérémie admits that overseas, he is unable to be completely open about being gay. However, armed with a proactive and open spirit, Jérémie still finds a way to honor this aspect of himself and others through convening PeaceOut!, which supports LGBTQ volunteers serving in China.
On January 7th, 2016 we were proud to host Jérémie Gluckman to talk to our middle school about his experience in the Peace Corps. Students listened attentively as he spoke about the humanitarian mission behind the Peace Corps in promoting cultural exchange and sustainable development. His visit exposed our students to the further reaches of an international education.