Life outside my comfort zone - joining the Peace Corps - Column

After graduating from college, I worked for nine years the conservative and predictable confines of corporate America. I got my M.B.A., purchased a condo and eventually began to feel I had made it. I assumed there was nothing else for me to do but keep my nose clean, continue moving on up the career ladder and, somewhere in between, start a family.

Then one day the picture-perfect image I had of my life changed dramatically when my newly "reengineered" and "rightsized" Fortune 500 employer decided I was no longer needed. I was working in marketing for IBM and had already begun to experience job burnout. So when the company offered to pay me to leave, I was relieved to go.

Determined to make the most of my forced retirement, I decided to do something I had not done since entering college. I began to look outside my 'hood and personal comfort zone for something that would both challenge me and help further my growth and development. That's how I ended up joining the Peace Corps.

In June 1993 I accepted a two-year assignment as a small-business consultant in the Central American country of Nicaragua, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country after Haiti. I had long admired people who had spent time actually living in another country and had proficiency in a second language. A stint abroad, I explained to family and friends, would also offer me a different perspective on life.

Looking back on my pre-Nicaraguan days, I can see how small the world I lived in then was. Outside of work and school, I rarely interacted with the White, Hispanic or Asian people who lived in or near my neighborhood. They had their own world, and we had ours.

Many people feel that that's exactly how it's supposed to be. That's why a lot of people were mystified as to why I wanted to "go over there." Some folks wondered if my decision to accept an assignment in Central America meant I had an identity problem. Others implied that in choosing to live abroad, I was selling out my people or bailing out of the difficulties we face here in the States. "Why, with so many unsolved problems here in your community and country, would you go over there to help them?" some asked. "Why don't you go help Africa?"

Fortunately, I never let the questions and criticisms deter me from continuing on what proved to be a life-altering journey. During my more than two years in Nicaragua, I lived among people of Spanish, Mayan, African and Chinese descent. I often marveled at how they coped with the racial bias and grinding poverty that are much harsher than anything we have in America. They do so without government's enforcing the basic constitutional rights and protections we sometimes take for granted. I lived my life simply, as do the majority of Nicaraguans, and became a better person as a result. Without the luxury of a TV set or an air conditioner, I learned to spend evenings with a good book and a cool glass of water.

Once I made it through the first few months of culture shock, I found myself becoming not just a passive observer but also an integral part of the local scene. One day I was goofing around on a basketball court in the capital city of Managua when I was "discovered" and invited to join Los Astros, a professional basketball team. I am proud to say we eventually won the national-league championship.

I grew to love my two years in Nicaragua. But eventually I longed to return home. I know the United States is not perfect, but it is my home and my appreciation of this country only increased because of my Third World experience.

I'm glad that I took the gamble and decided to spend some time outside my comfort zone. Had I chosen instead to stay in my neighborhood, close to home, I probably would not have developed the sensitivity and understanding that allow me to relate to people who appear to be different from me. Having had the opportunity to live in another country and another culture has opened me up to the bigger picture, which can be both beautiful and ugly at the same time. I've been back for more than a year now and am still recovering. I've learned so much. My perspective has broadened. My decision to go over there was a good one.

Mark Lewis lives in Los Angeles. He is a customer-service manager for a manufacturer of industrial electronics.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Essence Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group