Peace Fellowship

I just felt like posting something positive about a recent college graduate...

"Recent Hamline University graduate Sarah Houghton has received a prestigious Rotary World Peace Fellowship, one of just sixty awarded worldwide, and one of thirteen awarded to students in the United States, which she will use to earn her master’s in international relations from International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

The Rotary Foundation awards up to 110 Rotary World Peace Fellowships each year, including sixty master’s degree fellowships and fifty professional development certificate fellowships. Rotary World Peace Fellows are chosen from countries and cultures around the globe, and selection for the master’s degree program is based on the strength of an applicant’s undergraduate degree, the relevance of their post-graduation work experience, and their anticipated ability to have a significant, positive impact on world peace and conflict resolution.

Fellows are recognized as future leaders in promoting national and international cooperation, peace, and the successful resolution of conflict throughout their lives, in their careers and through service activities.

Houghton, who majored in global studies and East Asian studies at Hamline and speaks Chinese and Spanish, hopes to dedicate her career to fostering peace and world understanding by addressing the roots of poverty in struggling countries. Currently, she is serving as director of a water project in Bolivia, also funded by Rotary International. There, she is working with engineers and craftsmen to provide clean water to Bolivian families who have highly contaminated wells.

Houghton graduated summa cum laude from Hamline University in 2007. During her time there, she received an independent research grant to study in China, where she spent time as a grant and publication’s translator for NGO Women’s Legal Aide and as a English teacher for CCTEC Engineering Company, Ltd. She also spent time as a math and reading tutor for elementary school children, was a Model United Nations teaching assistant and president, participated in mediator training, was a student orientation leader, and took a leadership role in several diversity efforts and events on campus. She received a host of awards at Hamline, including the Global Studies Student of Year in 2007.

“My professors at Hamline were instrumental in pushing me academically, mentoring me and helping me to reach my post-graduation goals,” Houghton said. “I chose Hamline because I liked the combination of the small school in a big city. I was impressed by the academic programs, student activism and the access to mentorships, due to the small student-to-staff ratio.”

An active volunteer with a number of nonprofit organizations, Houghton currently serves as ambassador for Etta’s Comedor de Niños, a community center she helped to found in Bolivia. She has also volunteered as a kindergarten teacher at an orphanage in Bolivia, helped out at a Minneapolis food shelf, and spent time as a language camp counselor at Concordia Language Villages. Houghton hails from Ishpeming, Michigan and graduated from Negaunee High School. Her parents, Bruce and Katherine Houghton still reside in Ishpeming. They met each other at Hamline University, where they graduated in 1974 and 1972, respectively."

Not bad for someone who is about 23, if that.