When discussing public service, what often comes to one's mind are the military, firefighters, police and similar occupations. But one organization often overlooked has for decades sought to promote peace and understanding of the American culture through collaborative projects in developing nations.
Jeremy Lackman, a 1995 graduate of Jefferson City High School, notes that although he possessed an early-born longing to give to his country through service in the Peace Corps, it took many years for this desire to become a reality.
"I attended CMSU after high school and graduated in 2000 with a bachelor's in psychology," said Lackman, 38, Centertown. "I spent a short time in California, but then returned to Missouri."
In 2001, Lackman was hired as the housing manager for Linn State Technical College, but many changes in both his career and educational path were to come.
After two years in Linn, he briefly relocated to Chicago and later traveled to California, spending time working in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, he received a call from Linn State advising him that his replacement "didn't work out" and asking that he return to his previous job, which he did for the next two years.
His itinerant yearnings soon reemerged, and he moved to New York when he was hired as a federal immigration and enforcement agent.
"It seemed like an interesting thing to do," Lackman said. "I completed the federal law enforcement training in Georgia, and while working in New York I was escorting illegal immigrants who had entered the criminal justice system between jail and their court hearings."
The young man's interest in federal law enforcement soon faded when he chose to pursue an advanced degree and, in 2008, was accepted into a physical education master's program at Brooklyn College in New York.
"Growing up, I always loved playing sports and being outside. ... and while attending CMSU, I took a lot of (physical education) classes, but never declared it my major or minor."
While working as an aircraft deicer at JFK International Airport and waiting tables at a restaurant in Times Square, Lackman completed his master's degree in physical education in 2010, only to fall victim to the hiring freeze in effect for new employees in New York City.
"No new teachers could find a job at that time," Lackman said, "so I took the advice of one of my professors and applied for Ph.D. programs."
He was accepted into a doctoral program at the University of Georgia, graduating with his doctorate in physical education early last year. Having reached the pinnacle of his educational endeavors, Lackman arrived at a crossroads in his professional journey.
"Once you have a Ph.D. - for the most part - you're expected to settle into an academic job as a professor and perform research, and it kind of becomes a permanent position," he said, adding, "but there had always been that unceasing desire to serve in the Peace Corps."
Finding it the opportune occasion to fulfill this wish before embarking upon a career in academia, Lackman applied for and was accepted to represent the Peace Corps as a health educator in the small nation of Moldova.
"(Moldova) is a small Eastern European nation sandwiched between the Ukraine and Romania," Lackland said, "and is one of the most impoverished nations in Europe."
Arriving in June 2014, he lived with a host family and received instruction in the Romanian language during morning lessons while his afternoons were spent learning to give health lessons in the country's local school system. Once 10 weeks had passed, he moved to the local village where he would live and work for the next several months.
"I was put up with a new host family and was paired with two Moldovan teachers," Lackman said. "The school system there didn't have a health curriculum, so I worked with my Moldovan teaching partners to develop one."
He continued: "We weren't there to tell them what they needed to do - it was a collaboration. They would identify a need, such as high rates of smoking among the youth population, and we would work together to establish a curriculum to address the issues they identified."
Lackland notes that although most Peace Corps duty assignments last for two years, his came to an early close when he was afforded the opportunity to not only employ his recently earned Ph.D. in an academic setting, but also to live and work in another foreign country.
"While living overseas, I was offered a position to teach at Earth University in Costa Rica," Lackman said. "I accepted and will begin in the next few weeks."
Having recently returned to Mid-Missouri in preparation for his new adventure in Central America, Lackman recognizes that although his time in the Peace Corps reflects a single moment in a litany of experiences, it offered him a firsthand glimpse into the benefits of voluntary service to one's nation.
"It's a whole different concept than many other types of public service - to promote peace and understanding of American culture through volunteerism ... and for the volunteer to understand that other person's culture," he said.
"It was a very collaborative experience with the idea of working with the people on the ground level in the communities you are sent to serve, and identifying what is most needed locally, and then finding resources to fill that void.
"In simplest terms, it really just meets a different need."
Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.