PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A 2018 Pittsfield High School graduate is dedicating her next couple of years to service in the Peace Corps.

 

Earlier this month, 24-year-old Kennedy Merriam departed to Colombia where she will serve as a co-English teacher for two years. She found her voice while studying Spanish in Pittsfield Public Schools and has made a career of it.

 

"I feel like right now, there is no better time than for me to give back and to learn from others, to work with others, and I think my biggest reason to serve would be to be able to grow myself with helping others but also having others help me grow and expand my knowledge, my beliefs," she said.

 

"It all narrows back to that word of giving back. I think every day I try to think of ways that I can give back, whether it be family, friends, or even strangers in our community. It's always in the back of my mind and I thought there was no other opportunity that I've found where it's that long of a time commitment to help others and be immersed in their culture like that."

 

Merriam is a former U.S. Youth Ambassador in the Department of the U.S. World Learning Program and graduated with a master of arts in Spanish at Bowling Green State University in Ohio last spring.

 

Her 13-year journey with language studies has taken her to Argentina, Spain, and now Colombia but it began in a sixth-grade classroom at Herberg Middle School. She struggled with a speech impediment growing up but learning a new language brought new-found confidence that continues today.

 

"Whenever I ever took that first class at Herberg in sixth grade, I remember that it just clicked learning a language other than English was like the first time in my life that I felt proud of something that I was doing," Merriam explained.