Inspired by Students to Serve

As Amy Siegesmund sat in her office in the Rieke Science Center, the gray and drizzle of a Washington December afternoon hanging over the day, she couldn’t help but feel joy. Across from her sat two students who had just finished her “Intro to Microbiology” course.

“I remember feeling happy to be in my office chatting with students again,” Siegesmund says. “This wasn’t long after we had returned to in-person learning after the pandemic, and I had really missed interacting with students in this way.”

The semester had just finished, and the students were asking about opportunities to serve after graduation.

For Siegesmund, a biology professor at PLU, it reminded her of a dream she once had as a fresh college undergraduate: serving in the Peace Corps. At the time, her dedication and desire to pursue work in microbiology kept her from making that pledge — the timing wasn’t right. But as she sat discussing it with her students, the spark of a distant dream ignited.

“As they were talking, I was beaming with pride at these students,” Siegesmund reflects, “because they are amazing. All of a sudden, in my head, it just came to the front. I was like, ‘It’s time for Peace Corps!’”

She started attending workshops and panels about Peace Corps service and by September 2022 she was invited to serve.

Her experience at PLU had taught her that taking this leap (and a leave of absence for two years) may be met with some nervousness, but also overwhelming support for service and vocational pursuit.

“Everyone I told was initially stupefied,” she says.

This was something people usually pursue right after they earn their undergraduate degree, not decades into a faculty position at a university.

It wasn’t long after being “stupefied” that the response was one of support. University leadership was on-board to figure out how to support the volunteer opportunity.

“Supporting our community members in living out their vocational calls to serve is at the heart of our mission as an institution,” says Joanna Gregson, PLU provost. “When Professor Siegesmund shared with me her lifelong dream of serving in the Peace Corps, I immediately set about exploring a pathway that would allow us to make it work for her. This experience aligns deeply with her commitment to global citizenship, equity, and education, and I’m so glad she was able to do it!”

The alignment and support was a perfect match.

“Service permeates everything at PLU,” Siegesmund says. “You can choose to ignore it. I choose to embrace it.”

She was stationed in St. Lucia as one of 30 volunteers working across the Eastern Caribbean. Her service started in June 2023, teaching elementary students.

Although her experience as an educator to college students prepared her for some of this work, the realities of the experience were challenging. There was less autonomy about what had to be accomplished. The structure did not give her as much freedom as an educator at PLU.

Siegesmund learned to navigate cultural nuances, adapted to different educational systems and processes, and developed innovative problem-solving approaches with limited resources. It required adaptability, resilience, and a profound openness to new perspectives.

“One of those similarities between my work at PLU and teaching in St. Lucia was that building rapport, trust, and relationships was the foundation,” she says.

Those cornerstones are the foundation of what she does in the classroom.

“I help students build with each other; that’s really the core of what I do. And then the biology content is the next layer on top of that,” Siegesmund says.

After earning her Ph.D. in microbiology, she worked in several labs, gaining experience to establish herself as a research scientist. The lab experience afforded her the opportunity to work with and train undergraduate students.

“I was doing these additional trainings to get more experience in different scientific techniques, in different areas,” she says, “and what started to become clear to me while I was doing it was that even though I really liked doing bench research and that aspect, the part of what I really liked the most was teaching.”

She started thinking about what she wanted to do long-term.

“I really started thinking about a position where I could teach, with teaching as the primary focus, but would still have the opportunity to do research with undergraduates. That was exactly what I was looking for.”

She came across a job posting at PLU for a two-year temporary position in the biology department for someone to teach cell biology and microbiology. She took a leap of faith. It was out of character for someone who likes to have a plan and have certainty with what to expect, but she was not dissuaded.

She started as a sabbatical replacement, but after a professor retired, a tenured-track position opened up. After applying for the permanent position and going through the search process, she was hired.

“I’ve been there ever since. And I think, just for me, I felt like it was one of those times in my life where I got to PLU, I started working with my colleagues in biology, people across campus, and I just had this sense of ‘this is where I should be,’” she says. “This is where I belong. This is where I want to be.”

It’s a feeling that has stayed with her throughout her time at PLU.

“I still, after all these years later, feel so lucky to get to work with the colleagues that I have at PLU and then all of our students,” she says. “The students are phenomenal. How lucky am I to get to share this experience with these remarkable students? And I think the reason I feel that way is in large part because of the kind of place PLU is.”

This fall, Siegesmund returns to PLU, adding the role of the university’s new Peace Corps Prep Director.

Her experience in the Peace Corps will provide students with a unique perspective, and she’s committed to being direct and honest with students.

“And that means some very uncomfortable conversations,” she says, “but I think as someone who’s wanting to have an experience like this, it’s good to be honest with yourself as you take the leap. So it’s important to talk to students about why they really want to do this.”

If it’s just about traveling and seeing the world, the Peace Corps might not be for you.

“You’re going there to serve, to be of service.”