Volume 29 · Number 2 · Winter 2012
Web extra: Young alums in the work world
Michael Hower
WorldTeach Volunteer in Bogotá, Colombia
Michael Hower ’09 spent the past year in the poorest part of Colombia’s capitol—an area that the U.S. Embassy advises Americans to avoid. Stray dogs roam the streets, along with the occasional cow, and children help their parents sell trinkets on the streets to support their families.
Michael Hower
“Living here has been a wake-up call for how lucky I am to have grown up in California,” said Hower, a former volunteer English teacher at Colegio Nueva Esperanza (New Hope School), a public school in south Bogotá. “Most foreigners who come here stick to the northern parts of the city where most of the wealth is concentrated,” he said. “The south, where I live and work, is a totally different planet. Many of the people who live here have been displaced by the ongoing civil war and the drug trade. They lack education, marketable skills and economic opportunities.”
By teaching English in the Juan Rey barrio, Hower gave these children a fighting chance to get out of poverty. Colombian college admission tests place a large importance on English and the best jobs require English-speaking skills, Hower said. “If you don’t have a basic understanding of English, you can’t go to college, good jobs are unattainable and improving your life is nearly impossible.”
Hower participated in Harvard University’s WorldTeach program. He faced homesickness, frustrating bureaucracy and a language barrier, but for Hower, the children make it all worth it. “When I was working in San Francisco, I would come to the office building and sit in my cubical—and if I’m lucky, someone would say ‘Hi.’ Working here, every day when I arrive at school, the kids go nuts and yell ‘Teacher Mike! Teacher Mike!’ To them, I’m as cool as SpongeBob. I make their day.”
Shortly after graduating from UC Davis in summer 2009, Hower found an internship at a public relations firm in San Francisco, which quickly led to a job. “It wasn’t my dream job, but at the time I wanted to get any job. Since it was a good ‘real’ job with full benefits, a decent salary and paid vacation days, I took it.” Later, he also got a writing gig forr Examiner.com's unemployment section.
Yet, he didn’t feel like he was where he was supposed to be. “My whole life, I had done what was expected of me,” Hower said about going to college, getting an internship and then a job. “But I wasn’t passionate about what I was doing and knew I needed to make a change before I got stuck heading down an undesirable path.”
The day he told his employer he was quitting to teach in Colombia, he turned down a pay raise and a promotion. “Everyone thought I was crazy for doing it,” Hower said. “I wanted to change the world, and I was done being realistic about it.”
During his stay in Colombia, Hower wrote a couple of stories for USA Today’s college blog, and gained a substantial following on his own blog, The Tall Gringo, racking up 4,000 hits a month. “I have received e-mails throughout the year from people looking to move to Colombia to help out, and a few people have told me they decided to come here because of me,” he said. “It’s nice to know that I have set an example that has inspired people to try to make a difference, whether here or at home.”
He returned home to the San Francisco Bay Area in December.
Advice for recent graduates: Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone. That’s been the theme of my life this year. If you’re comfortable, you’re probably not doing something right.