2002.06.01: June 1, 2002: Headlines: Figures: COS - Sierra Leone: Staff: Science: Space: Dance: The Oprah Magazine: Mae Jemison built a dance studio in her home
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Sierra Leone:
Special Report: Sierra Leone Peace Corps Medical Officer and NASA Mission Specialist Dr. Mae Jemison:
February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Staffer Mae Jemison :
2002.06.01: June 1, 2002: Headlines: Figures: COS - Sierra Leone: Staff: Science: Space: Dance: The Oprah Magazine: Mae Jemison built a dance studio in her home
Mae Jemison built a dance studio in her home
"I wanted my own dance studio. As a little girl, my dream had been to have a room at home where I could pirouette, plié, jump, and sweat. Dance was alternately my first and second love, always jockeying with science for my devotion. In fact, the big dilemma I faced my senior year in college was whether to go to New York City to medical school or to become a professional dancer. (My mother helped me solve that one—but that's another story.) After I moved in, I fantasized about a wood floor on which I could dance in the wee hours of the morning or do yoga in a nice quiet space. I had the perfect room, too. It was huge, sunny and located at the back of the house. I didn't use it for anything except storing old magazines and clothes I was too lazy to throw out. All I had to do was remove the carpet, remove the closets—make it different. I tortured myself with conflicting thoughts. It was my space, but what if no one else liked my studio? Then I realized the most important thing I could do with my house was to create a home I would be comfortable in, a space that reflected and suited me, not the resale market." Astronaut Mae Jemison, the first Afro-American woman in space, served as a Peace Corps Medical Officer in Sierra Leone.
Mae Jemison built a dance studio in her home
Mae Jemison's Inner Space
Mae Jemison How to reach the stars? For the first African-American woman in space, it took sanding, sealing, varnishing, and finally leaping.
This is silly, but four years after I bought my first house and had settled in, I was still intimidated by the real estate broker who sold it to me. And I'm not easily intimidated: Since I was a teenager, I had trained or worked in male-dominated professions and stood up to the biggest of bullies. When I was 24, I worked in a Khmer refugee camp where one could hear shelling across the Thai-Cambodian border at night. At 26, I was in West Africa, as the area Peace Corps medical officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia, solely responsible for the health of more than 400 Americans. Now I was in the perfect position to make a childhood dream come true, and I found myself paralyzed by indecision, because the real estate broker told me not to do anything "unique" to my house that might undermine its resale value.
I bought the house in 1987, after moving to Houston to join NASA. My realtor did a wonderful job getting me the lowest mortgage rates, the best terms and purchase price. She gave freely of her wisdom on real estate. "It's all about resale value, especially with a starter home," she told me. "So don't do anything unique, like paint it funny colors."
But I wanted my own dance studio. As a little girl, my dream had been to have a room at home where I could pirouette, plié, jump, and sweat. Dance was alternately my first and second love, always jockeying with science for my devotion. In fact, the big dilemma I faced my senior year in college was whether to go to New York City to medical school or to become a professional dancer. (My mother helped me solve that one—but that's another story.)
After I moved in, I fantasized about a wood floor on which I could dance in the wee hours of the morning or do yoga in a nice quiet space. I had the perfect room, too. It was huge, sunny and located at the back of the house. I didn't use it for anything except storing old magazines and clothes I was too lazy to throw out. All I had to do was remove the carpet, remove the closets—make it different.
I tortured myself with conflicting thoughts. It was my space, but what if no one else liked my studio? Then I realized the most important thing I could do with my house was to create a home I would be comfortable in, a space that reflected and suited me, not the resale market.
I am very proud of my ability to adapt and excel in the world I find myself in, but now I leave my signature on my environment as well. Ten years later I live in the same house. I bask in the knowledge that it is important to build places of comfort suited to me, to my world. Dance anyone?
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: June, 2002; Staff Member Mae Jemison; Figures; Peace Corps Sierra Leone; Directory of Sierra Leone RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Sierra Leone RPCVs; Staff; Science; Space; Dance; Peace Corps Bibliography; Peace Corps Directory; Peace Corps History; Bulletin Board; Peace Corps Headlines
When this story was posted in July 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Dodd issues call for National Service Standing on the steps of the Nashua City Hall where JFK kicked off his campaign in 1960, Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd issued a call for National Service. "Like thousands of others, I heard President Kennedy's words and a short time later joined the Peace Corps." Dodd said his goal is to see 40 million people volunteering in some form or another by 2020. "We have an appetite for service. We like to be asked to roll up our sleeves and make a contribution," he said. "We haven't been asked in a long time." |
| Public diplomacy rests on sound public policy When President Kennedy spoke of "a long twilight struggle," and challenged the country to "ask not," he signaled that the Cold War was the challenge and framework defining US foreign policy. The current challenge is not a struggle against a totalitarian foe. It is not a battle against an enemy called "Islamofascism." From these false assumptions flow false choices, including the false choice between law enforcement and war. Instead, law enforcement and military force both must be essential instruments, along with diplomacy, including public diplomacy. But public diplomacy rests on policy, and to begin with, the policy must be sound. Read more. |
| Ambassador revokes clearance for PC Director A post made on PCOL from volunteers in Tanzania alleges that Ambassador Retzer has acted improperly in revoking the country clearance of Country Director Christine Djondo. A statement from Peace Corps' Press Office says that the Peace Corps strongly disagrees with the ambassador’s decision. On June 8 the White House announced that Retzer is being replaced as Ambassador. Latest: Senator Dodd has placed a hold on Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania. |
| Peace Corps Funnies A PCV writing home? Our editor hard at work? Take a look at our Peace Corps Funnies and Peace Corps Cartoons and see why Peace Corps Volunteers say that sometimes a touch of levity can be one of the best ways of dealing with frustrations in the field. Read what RPCVs say about the lighter side of life in the Peace Corps and see why irreverent observations can often contain more than a grain of truth. We'll supply the photos. You supply the captions. |
| PCOL serves half million PCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more. |
| Suspect confesses in murder of PCV Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences . |
| Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace Corps Warren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task." |
| Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
| He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: The Oprah Magazine
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Sierra Leone; Staff; Science; Space; Dance
PCOL38073
52