Brian Straight served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala and El Salvador
Stories of foreign travel entertain, educate: Life abroad prepares grad student for job with the DEA
by Erin McCarty
For The Post
erin.mccarty@ohiou.edu
Caption: Brian Straight, a graduate student and assistant resident director in the Sargent-Wilson complex, shares his experiences from his childhood in Asia, his stint in the Peace Corps and a run-in with Chinese soldiers. Jake Mecklenborg / Photo Editor
The Virgin Islands, China and El Salvador are only a few of the countries where Brian Straight has lived. His numerous travels have supplied him with a plethora of stories.
Currently assistant resident director of the Sargent-Wilson complex, Straight regales his Residence Life friends with his tales.
"We invite him along for the stories," said Beth Henke, the resident director of Pickering Hall.
Henke said Straight's stories move beyond entertainment and inspire her to more closely consider problems in Latin America and around the world.
As a military child, Straight spent his youth moving around the globe. His first experience in another country came when he was seven and his father, a U.S. Marine, was stationed at Misawa Air Base in Japan. After a two-year residency, the family was re-stationed in South Korea.
Straight said one of the best lessons he learned from his childhood was adaptability -"You make friends really fast."
Eventually, Straight's family moved to Quantico, Va., where he joined Witch Hunt, a heavy metal band, at age 15. Convinced he was going to make it in the music business, he planned to attend the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., but only until the band made a big hit. But by the age of 21, he felt a need for a change and left the band.
In 1999, he graduated from the university with a degree in Spanish and joined the Peace Corps. In order to prepare for his two-year residency in Guatemala he spent three months in Antigua, Guatemala, with a non-profit organization. Since the Guatemalan War had just ended two years before, his mission was to find homes for orphaned children or reunite them with their parents.
During his stay in Guatemala, Straight visited a city in El Salvador, which was a five-hour bus ride away. With no idea where he was going to stay the night, he happened to meet a woman on the street who invited him to stay with her family.
"The whole country would take his or her shirt off for you if they thought it would make you happy," Straight said.
Because he enjoyed his experience in El Salvador, Straight feverishly lobbied to be placed in there for his two-year stint with the Peace Corps. His fervor was rewarded when he was stationed in the small town of Jocoaitique, El Salvador.
For two years, he worked to improve the conditions of the town and taught health and sanitation at the local schools. He held lectures for single mothers about the importance of using contraceptives and seeing a gynecologist. He also addressed the issue of domestic violence.
The subject of domestic violence has to be approached cautiously because violence is a typical El Salvadorian method to solve issues, Straight said.
He learned many career and language skills. He can understand and speak every accent in Latin America. Through his interaction with the leaders of the town, many who were former guerillas, he became adept at politicking.
"I got a lot more from my community than they got from me," Straight said.
After the Peace Corps, Straight went to Wuhan, China, for six months to teach English. Aside from his horrible teaching experience because of conflicts with management, Straight said his stay in China was exhilarating, especially an unusual encounter with the authorities.
While setting off fireworks, Straight and his friends accidentally caused one to explode near a Chinese military post. Immediately soldiers with AK-47s surrounded them. It took repeated apologies, but the night ended with the soldiers taking Straight and his friends out to drink.
Straight taught Spanish at a private school in Frederiksted, Virgin Islands, for a year before returning to the United States in 2003, when he began graduate school at Ohio University in Latin American studies.
After graduate school, Straight plans to work for the government.
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be hired by the D.E.A. [Drug Enforcement Administration], but I still have some more steps to do," Straight said.
