April 30, 2004: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Marriage: The Grand Rapids Press: Scott Dalessandro and Molly Baxter will continue their eastward trek with the Peace Corp in Morocco

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Morocco: Peace Corps Morocco : The Peace Corps in Morocco: April 30, 2004: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Marriage: The Grand Rapids Press: Scott Dalessandro and Molly Baxter will continue their eastward trek with the Peace Corp in Morocco

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-44-226.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.44.226) on Saturday, May 08, 2004 - 3:01 pm: Edit Post

Scott Dalessandro and Molly Baxter will continue their eastward trek with the Peace Corp in Morocco

Scott Dalessandro and Molly Baxter will continue their eastward trek with the Peace Corp in Morocco

Scott Dalessandro and Molly Baxter will continue their eastward trek with the Peace Corp in Morocco

Hope graduation just start of couple's adventure
Friday, April 30, 2004
By Kym Reinstadler
The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND -- When Scott Dalessandro proposed to Molly Baxter last fall while watching the sun set over Lake Michigan, he didn't pull a dazzling diamond ring out of his pocket.

He pulled a gleaming bicycle built for two he had hidden in a wooded area of the dunes, and the two pedaled it to The Piper to celebrate their lifetime commitment.

The gesture was perfect, but not because Baxter doesn't care for rings, or because Dalessandro chose a bike that is orange -- his fiancee's favorite color.

A tandem bike is the perfect symbol for a young couple determined to go places -- together.

Dalessandro and Baxter will graduate Sunday from Hope College. They plan to marry July 3 in Baxter's hometown of Kennewick, Wash., then have a reception July 24 with Dalessandro's family in Hamden, Maine. The following week, they will continue their eastward trek with the Peace Corp in Morocco.

"It's hectic planning so many big things at once," said Baxter, 22. "It wouldn't be possible without the help we're getting from our parents, especially since everything's so spread out."

Both say they feel more excited than anxious about graduating, marrying, moving and working on a continent neither has seen -- all within 90 days.

They are naturally adventurous, and eager to help people while trying new things.

"I feel like I've spent a lot of money on myself over the last four years," said Dalessandro, 21. "I know I want to go on to graduate school, but I won't be ready to do that until I give some of what I've learned so far to help others."

Although the Peace Corps will not finalize their assignments for another few weeks, Dalessandro's preliminary post will have him teaching English As a Second Language in a Moroccan high school. Baxter will lead a recreation program for younger children in the same community.

It was Baxter who raised the idea of devoting the first few years of their marriage to the Peace Corp.

Her mother, Mary Esther Baxter, a 1967 graduate of Hope, spent her first three years out of college with the Peace Corp, teaching in a mountain village school in the Philippines.

Baxter said she grew up loving her mother's stories of doing satisfying work in a faraway place, and she yearned to have a similar experience.

She studied in Spanish and International Studies at Hope. Dalessandro studied in French and Spanish.

They say it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which they would have met, if it were not for Hope, because they grew up on opposite coasts.

Baxter is a fourth-generation Hope graduate. Dalessandro, a first-generation college student, had no connection to Hope or Michigan when he arrived in Holland on a Greyhound bus from Maine four years ago.

He was interested in small liberal arts colleges and was all set to attend one in Boston. Then, a friend conducting a similar search gave him a Hope brochure, and he enrolled without making a visit to the campus.

The two met in October of their freshman year in the common room of Scott Hall. They were the only students in the residence hall whose families lived too far away for them to visit during the short fall break.

Baxter was brewing a pot of coffee and doing a load of laundry. Dalessandro was stretched out on a couch, laid low by a virus. They say they started talking and hit it off immediately.

They have been a couple ever since.

The relationship was strengthened by separateness, and togetherness, during their junior years when they studied abroad through the Council of International Education Exchange.

Baxter spent the entire year in Seville, Spain. Dalessandro spent the fall semester in Rennes, France, and spring semester in Seville.

They met for two glorious weekends during first semester, one in Barcelona and the other in Paris.

The two spent three weeks at Christmas backpacking through Europe, staying in youth hostels.

"That was a very affirming experience for me," Baxter said. "I saw we could be together 24 hours a day in a high-stress situation like international travel for three straight weeks and not have it hurt our relationship. He fit into my experience. It seemed like just the right amount of individuality and togetherness."

Although Baxter has meet her future in-laws, Stephen and Nancy Dalessandro, and Dalessandro has met his fiancee's parents, John and Mary Baxter, their parents will not meet until they arrive for Sunday's graduation.


© 2004 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission




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Story Source: The Grand Rapids Press

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Morocco; Marriage

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