Alumni Profile | Class of 2007 Ashleigh Abraham Coutu
“ Egypt Disappears” was the headline my friends and family read on the evening news as I sat on a plane flying towards the events escalating into the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. After graduating with a degree in Global Studies from the University of Tennessee, I traveled to Cairo to participate in a teaching program and Arabic immersion course. Upon arrival, I was caught in a nation-wide media blackout, and became an inadvertent eye-witness to the uprising. It was during my first night in Cairo that I learned how to push past fear in order to bear witness to the makings of a revolution. It was a unique education to say the least!
Shortly after leaving Egypt, my husband and I moved to South Korea to teach English. There, I obtained a Teach English as a Second Language certificate. I also had the chance to volunteer with Open Radio for North Korea, an organization which broadcasts beyond the closed borders of North Korea. I observed the powerful effect access to information has on communities. I also had the opportunity to build an English as a Second Language mentorship program which connected community members with North Korean refugees. My experiences in Korea led me to pursue a Master of Journalism degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. I’ m currently a Research Assistant and will start my graduate work this fall. I arrived in Ottawa around the same time as did numerous Syrian newcomers. As a result, I have been able to draw on my previous experiences working with refugees to work on settlement issues related to Syrian newcomers.
The past six years of traveling and teaching English have afforded me opportunities to hear stories from interesting people around the world, which amplified my strong desire to enter into the field of journalism.
The CPA community played a large role in shaping my worldview. From first learning about Eastern cultures in Ms. Klein’ s fourth grade History class, to being introduced to Dostoyevsky in Mr. Dark’ s sophomore English class,(… and to having an odd craving for Rice Krispy Treats every time I have Papa John’ s pizza!) the community I encountered at CPA continues to influence my everyday life. Attending CPA was a financial sacrifice for my parents. They invested in my future, and I should probably thank them more often than I do. I viewed and continue to view, post-secondary studies as a way to access new adventures. I remember Mr. Delvaux’ s lecture based on leaving“ The Shire”. CPA prepared me to leave The Shire.
Henri Nouwen writes,“ The wounds of our individual lives, which seem intolerable when lived alone, become sources of healing when we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care.” I found a fellowship of mutual care among friends and family at CPA. It can be difficult to live so far away from loved ones. However, my husband and I try to live out the principle,“ Bloom where you’ re planted.” Maybe that’ s the whole thing. If so, I certainly learned it first while at CPA.
32 SEPTEMBER 2017