Alumni Spotlight: Molly A. Matteson '12

7/19/2017

While the Class of 2012 was celebrating its fifth reunion last month, Peace Corps volunteer Molly A. Matteson ’12 was nearly 6,000 miles away in a small rural village in the Western Region of Ghana. In January, Matteson embarked on a 27-month journey as a health educator for the 500 men, women and children who live in the village. “I was lucky enough to find a way to marry my love of service with my need for adventure,” she says.

Matteson spends her days working with the local population to help reduce Malaria incidences, to improve child and maternal health, to increase knowledge about HIV and AIDS and to improve sanitation and hygiene.

Already, she is proficient in Twi, the language spoken by roughly 9 million people in Ghana. And she readily responds to Adwoa—a Ghanaian name which means “Monday-born,” given to her after the first day of her arrival by Ama, her host family maame.

With the help of Molly’s mother, Mrs. Patsy Matteson, and the use of digital communication, we were able to connect across the miles and bring you a glimpse into her journey.

Catch us up on what you've been up to since graduating five years ago.

After graduating from Loyola, I studied International Relations and National Security/Foreign Policy at American University. There, I began to realize my passion for other cultures. Living in D.C., I had access to myriad cultural events, including many influential talks and evenings at the various embassies.

I felt a strong pull to go abroad, so I left the U.S. for the first time during my junior year to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where I honed in on my studies of the Middle East and North Africa. When I came back to the States, I focused on my studies and internships—my most memorable internship was during my senior year with an organization called Running Start. Its mission is to empower more young women to get involved with politics and hold public office.

After all of these incredible experiences, I knew I wouldn't be happy sitting at a desk in an office, and so I applied to the Peace Corps after graduation and set forth on my current adventure.

Tell us about your experience so far in Ghana as a member of the Peace Corps.

They say that Peace Corps service will be the hardest job you'll ever love. While I didn't understand what that meant at the beginning, now—six months in—it makes total sense. Every day is a mix of challenges and triumphs. I spend so much time smiling and laughing, but I still have those "what am I doing here?" moments that take me a few minutes to shake off.

My life in Ghana does not have a regular schedule, much to my initial frustration, and on any given day I could be teaching health classes at our local junior high school, assisting with child welfare days at the clinic or working on a big community project. For example, I recently completed a bicycle project which brought 120 gently used bicycles to our village in order to cut the community members' commute times to work, farm or school in half.

While projects and health education are an extremely important part of my job, in reality two-thirds of the Peace Corps' mission is to engage in meaningful cultural exchange. This means that my nights eating fufu, a local dish made of mashed plantain and cassava, with my neighbors and my time spent with the village elders learning Twi, the local language, are just as important as any official projects I complete.

One of my biggest success stories so far was with a little girl named Farida, who was absolutely terrified of me when I first came to the village. After a few painstaking months of trying to win her over, now she won't let me pass her house without demanding that I come pick her up for a quick dance before I move on. These daily interactions with my fellow community members make every second spent away from my friends and family worth it one hundred times over.

What inspired you to seek an experience like this?

So often we are asked for the inspirations behind our actions. The truth is, though, that I have no single eloquent answer. I believe that we are a culmination of every event we have experienced and every person we have met. So, in a way, every single thing I have done so far and every person I have come across have pushed me forward on this journey.

The time I spent abroad in college certainly opened my eyes to an entirely new part of the world. My passions grew for learning about new beliefs, values and ideas. I met so many interesting people with penchants for change-making. I talked to people involved with international aid and development, awe-inspiring NGOs and organizations helping countries and their people gain access to basic human needs.

The people I met and the places I went each planted tiny seeds in my mind that grew into enormous trees guiding my path through life. They all pushed me to realize my dream: to be able unite service with international travel and cultural exchange.

How do Loyola’s Jesuit values remain a part of your life?

Throughout my time in high school and beyond, those five words—women and men for others—would pop into my head every once in awhile, especially when I was too caught up in life to look outside of myself. I would feel a nagging pull in the back of my mind and ask "Am I doing all that I can to be a woman for others?"

Sometimes, even still, the answer is no. In asking myself this question though, I can reposition myself to make sure I'm being the best person I can be, which for me means looking out for those who need help—even if they won't ask for it.

The truth is that we are all the same. Whether we come from the northern suburbs of Chicago or a rural village in Ghana, we all want the same things: happiness and security in our lives. We all deserve the same privilege of waking up each day knowing we have something to strive for. Being a woman for others means giving people all over the world the same love, care and opportunity that I continue to receive.

And being a woman for others has changed my life. It has given me purpose, strength and unbounded happiness. It doesn't mean that I wake up, do a few good deeds and then go to sleep. It means that I dedicate each day to giving love and empowering people to change their lives in the way they want them to change.

What's next?

I try not to make too many predictions about the future—after all, we never really know where life will take us or which seeds will bloom the fastest to reroute our paths. When I close my service in Ghana in the spring of 2019, I’m hoping to go back to graduate school in Washington, D.C., to further my studies in National Security and Foreign Policy. I have a dream to join the United States Foreign Service and to carry out the mission of promoting peace and encouraging prosperity all over the globe. I am a citizen of the world, and I intend to live my life with love, compassion and understanding for my brothers and sisters both at home and abroad.

But, after two years in Ghana, everything could change. One thing I can say, with almost absolute certainty, is that I'll never stop exploring other cultures or trying to make the world a better place.

To learn more, visit the blog “Molly Goes to Ghana” at https://mollygoestoghana.wordpress.com/.

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Alumni Spotlight: Molly A. Matteson '12

Loyola Academy