After 2 years of service in Russia, Amy Sue was selected by the Peace Corps to be one of nineteen individuals to begin a new Peace Corps program in the new nation of East Timor
2003 OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI OF THE YEAR
Amy Sue Miller '99
While a student at Huntingdon, Amy Sue Miller designed her own major in Cultural Studies with a focus on Latin America. She received the college's first Spanish minor, and a minor in Communication Studies. In her "spare time" at Huntingdon, Amy Sue began a Spanish Club. She studied abroad in Colombia, Spain and Costa Rica and received the Delta Airlines International Scholars Award. Amy Sue served as secretary, vice president and president of the International Students Association and was a member of the Student Government Association. She was selected as Who's Who in America's Colleges and Universities and graduated from Huntingdon Magna Cum Laude.
Following graduation from Huntingdon, Amy Sue Miller began her career teaching Spanish and English at St. James High School. It took only one year to realize that, although she loved teaching, she wanted to do something that would help improve the lives of others and explore other nations and cultures at the same time. She was invited by the Peace Corps to serve in the Russian Far East. In June of 2000 she left the United States to become a volunteer in Russia. She was placed in Nakhodka, a city of about 200,000 people located on the Sea of Japan. She worked for 2 years in Nakhodka teaching English and Spanish at the Far Eastern State University of Nakhodka.
Besides teaching English and Spanish to her students at the university, Amy Sue began a university Spanish program, an English club, and a Spanish Olympiad for the city. She helped organize many American holiday celebrations for the English students of the city. She worked at a youth camp and a leadership camp for girls. She helped the university to create resources for their courses, judged English competitions, and helped to organize a career fair and take-a-girl-to-work day event for high school girls. Amy Sue believes that the biggest accomplishment of her work in Russia was the creation of a Foreign Language and Culture center where she raised over $8,000 in donations and resources for a free resource center for the entire city of Nakhodka regarding 7 foreign languages and information from nations all over the world!
After 2 years of service in Russia, Amy Sue was selected by the Peace Corps to be one of nineteen individuals to begin a new Peace Corps program in the new nation of East Timor. After being flown to Washington D.C. to meet with the Director of the Peace Corps, the Timorese Ambassador to the United States, and Senator Ted Kennedy, the group was immediately flown to Dili where they underwent intensive training.
Since June 2002, Amy Sue has been living in a small village in the mountains of East Timor. Her job is local governance promotion of a country recently granted independence from Indonesia by the United Nations in 1999. From 1999 to 2002, the United Nations has had control of East Timor in an attempt to build a new independent nation. Amy Sue is working with one sub-district administration to organize local governance and development. She is working with the Peace Corps to develop the training and language course (Tetun language) for a future group of local government and community development volunteers that will come to work in East Timor.
Within Amy Sue's sub-district is her village, Fatumasi. Within Fatumasi, Amy Sue has organized a committee representing several areas of the community including teachers, police, the health department, youth, local chiefs, and a women's group. This committee is working together to rebuild several key buildings in the community that were destroyed in 1999. The committee is receiving training on project management and writing grant proposals to international donor agencies for funding to build a pre-secondary school, a women's center, a youth center, a local government office, and homes for civil servants who generally do not live within the community and must walk up to 2 hours each way to get to work. Unfortunately, the students in Fatumasi have had access to only a 6th grade education. A new women's center would be used to develop local income generation projects like sewing, weaving and cooking along with literacy and health education classes. The youth center would provide recreational activities, sports and music education, and technical training in computers and carpentry.
In her few short years since graduating from Huntingdon College, Amy Sue Miller has helped rebuild a nation and improve the lives of others! She is most deserving of the Outstanding Young Alumni of the Year Award.
Past Recipients of the Outstanding Young Alumni of the Year Award
* 2002-Karla M. Wesley (Class of 1992)
