Michele Tarnow ’89 (journalism: advertising, international studies)

Peace Corps location: Southern Poland

Current location: United Arab Emirates

Current position: Chief Executive Officer at Alliance Care Technologies

I made the decision to go into the Peace Corps after realizing that my work with an advertising agency left me feeling unfulfilled. I was marketing for a household project that was extremely detrimental to the environment while simultaneously lobbying for clean water in Long Island Sound and I couldn’t reconcile those two worlds. I turned towards the Peace Corps to find a career path where I could contribute positively to the world and in turn, it helped me jumpstart my international career.

I started out as a Small Business consultant assigned to a small college called Bielsko Academy in Southern Poland where I was fortunate to be part of establishing a new academic institution that served the needs of business and industry in Poland through consulting and training the next generation. This was right after the fall of communism where the economy was transitioning rapidly from a centralized, state-planned economy to an open market economy. It was a pivotal moment in history that I am grateful to have experienced.

But it could not have been possible without the support from the UO. My degree gave me a broad foundation in a lot of topics that instilled curiosity and the ability to delve deeper by seeking out experts to answer questions in order to create solutions, but two of my professors were particularly influential: David Boush and Jonathan Brand.

Boush taught two classes that provided me with the skills to approach designing academic programs from an institutional standpoint and was instrumental in filling the library in Bielsko. He went above and beyond contacting textbook publishers who helped provide books with the latest theories and practices in market-based economy. Brand, on the other hand, was the Head of Creative at J. Walter Thompson in New York prior to his visitation at the UO. I tend to be more analytical than creative and he helped me develop my creative, problem-solving side. He also taught marketing at Bielsko for a year and his mentorship was crucial to my career development.

My advice for those who are interested in joining the Corps is that you don’t need all the answers, you only need to know to find those who, like Professors Boush and Brand, can help you find the path forward.