| Majors: | International Affairs |
Language: | Spanish |
Study Abroad: | Mexico |
Spanish |
 |
Laura in the classroom |
Laura Louise Plummer ’07
Life Skills Instructor
Moving Ahead Program at St. Francis House
Boston, MA
After graduating in 2007 with degrees in international affairs and Spanish, I began working as the family and teen advocate at a domestic violence shelter for women and their children in a Boston neighborhood notorious for its high rates of poverty and violent crime. Although I had never studied social work, this agency was attracted to my background in women’s studies, my work with low-income and minority youths, and also my ability to communicate with a growing Spanish-speaking clientele. With the case management skills gained at the shelter, in 2009 I became an in-home case manager for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, serving a mostly Hispanic client base in Jamaica Plain and surrounding towns. During this time, I also picked up a consulting position designing and teaching a Spanish class to preschoolers in Quincy.
After almost four years of case management in diverse settings, I was ready for a shift in career focus. In 2011, I was hired as a Life Skills Instructor for the Moving Ahead Program at St. Francis House, a multiservice agency for homeless individuals. Moving from case management to teaching has been a refreshing change of pace and has challenged me in entirely new ways. In order to amplify my command of reading and writing in Spanish, I also obtained a freelance position as an English-Spanish translator for a local community newspaper, which keeps my grammar up to academic standards. I still have extreme wanderlust. Since studying abroad in Mexico the spring of my junior year, I have continued to travel in Latin America as often as possible, visiting Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, and most recently Tijuana with my partner in summer of 2011.
The international affairs dual major has opened countless doors for me, both professionally and personally, and I am eager to provide some guidance to ease the way for current students. Firstly, I would encourage IA majors to thoroughly investigate their options for studying abroad and to be sure that whichever program they choose meets their standards of academic rigor and cultural immersion. Secondly, I would suggest using summer vacations and spring breaks to do work that is aligned with your overall career vision, even if it doesn't pay. Ditch that cushy job folding sweaters at the Gap. Experience in your chosen field as an undergrad will make you much more marketable when you start mailing your resume out after graduation. Finally, I would urge IA majors to apply for an undergraduate research grant through the UNH International Research Opportunities Program (IROP), one of the only programs in the country to fund research projects at the undergraduate level. My own experience as an IROP grant recipient gave me the opportunity to research women's issues in Puerto Rico for a summer, and continues to inform my work in the direct social services even today.
