Communication in the Peace Corps

Calandria Tate, who graduated from Wright State in December with a degree in communication studies, is volunteering in Senegal as a member of the Peace Corps.

Someday Calandria Tate wants to open a counseling practice for children with developmental disabilities. Before she does, she’s going to Senegal, Africa.

For Tate, Wright State provided an affordable opportunity to be close to home. Her brother has autism and she did not want to be far away from him while she was in college. Her brother inspired her to the point where she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in counseling so she can work with children like her brother.

“I just feel like there’s so much more that we can do with counseling, more than marriage counseling. I just want to take a new concentration,” she said.

Tate was a communication studies major who graduated in December. She has tried a few other majors before she selected communication studies, since, she said, she needed to work on her communication skills.

“When I took Interpersonal Communication, she really persuaded me to be more involved in communication,” she said. “She was so inspiring and she was becoming more and more involved in her field, and it just made me want to shoot for the stars.”

Interpersonal Communication was one of her favorite classes, as well as Health Communication and Social Work.

“Interpersonal Communication really challenged me,” Tate said. “It really helped me work with other people more than I used to.”

Tate is a member of the Peace Corps. She was inspired to join the corps by her aunt and her aunt’s friend, both of whom served in the Peace Corps.

“I thought I’m young, let’s do it. Since I’m about to graduate I can do what I’ve always wanted to do and start my future,” she said.

As a member of the Peace Corps, Tate will serve as a preventative health volunteer in Senegal, Africa, working with young people to help improve community health across Senegal. She will work on helping prevent the spread of malaria, as well as on nutrition, sanitation and preventing common illnesses. She will live and work in a rural village and partner with local health volunteers, as well as larger cities and regional capitals.

She said that working with young children ties in with her ambition to counsel young children in the future.