Boarder (Teddy) Tsai, BA ’18 (art)
Peace Corps Location: China 2019-2020
Current Position: Law student at Drexel University
Current Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
At the end of my senior year at UO, I considered Peace Corps to continue my art practice and gain more work experience. My instructors Colleen Choquette-Raphael, David Reuter, and Marissa Benedict had introduced me to social and contemporary art, and I enjoyed working with local communities and making context specific work. After graduation, I did a few odd jobs here and there before applying to the Peace Corp China program. And as luck would have it, I ended up teaching art students English.
My aforementioned mentors, Colleen especially, opened up how art could be used as a means of problem solving through everyday issues and how it wasn't merely a visual practice. For example, one of my favorite projects with my students in China was participating in a portrait session in my apartment. We would cook food, talk about our different cultures, and finally settle down to do a quick five-minute portrait of each other. It was a great ice-breaker and was a fantastic opportunity for cultural exchange. At the end, the portraits would be added to my wall and join the other dozens of portraits already up. It was a simple practice and gesture that symbolized being a part of a larger whole. Although my time in Peace Corps was cut short by the pandemic, I consider the human connections that we were able to make worth the time nonetheless. I still keep in contact with some of my students.
Unfortunately, China is no longer a branch of Peace Corp and I see that as a great shame. It was a much-needed diplomatic relationship between two countries with heightening political tensions. While people argued that our efforts were ill-spent in a "developed" nation like China, with the number of misconceptions our nations have for each other, the human-to-human interactions that Peace Corps provided were more than necessary.
Coming home to a pandemic was a chance to reset and reevaluate. I took my interest in social work and shifted focus from art to law. My experience in Peace Corps consolidated my passion for working with people directly, and my change in career was a shift that was anchored in my desire to create positive, instrumental change in the lives around me.
To anyone considering Peace Corps, I would strongly encourage it. Being fresh out of college is a fantastic time to apply what you've learned in a service context and see if it’s really what you love. Be flexible and open to new things; take every opportunity and the learning experiences that come with them. It's what everyone says, and it's the best advice you'll get. Leave your expectations at the door.
If you're interested in Peace Corps China specifically, I would suggest picking up Peter Hessler's "River Town." It's a compelling little read about the culture in China and the insights of a past volunteer.