{"id":496,"date":"2018-04-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/class-of-2018-graduate-headed-to-zambia-with-peace-corps\/"},"modified":"2021-12-28T23:00:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T23:00:16","slug":"class-of-2018-graduate-headed-to-zambia-with-peace-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/class-of-2018-graduate-headed-to-zambia-with-peace-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 grad headed to Zambia with Peace Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflecting on her upcoming graduation, senior English Creative Writing major Rebekah Otto still chuckles when recalling how she came to North Central University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still trying to figure out how this happened,\u201d quipped the Anchorage, Alaska native. \u201cWhen I was 15 years old I started getting literature from North Central \u2026 but I promptly threw it away.\u201d Otto had no intention of going to college.<\/p>\n

A mission trip to the Philippines when she was 17 was the catalyst for a change in her thinking. \u201cSuddenly I was aware that I was called to do something different\u2014not to stay home but to go overseas,\u201d Otto said.<\/p>\n

Maybe I should Google it<\/h2>\n

The home-schooled high-schooler was a little panicked, though, because this new dream would include a college education and she had no idea where to go. \u201cI remember getting on my knees and saying, \u201cIf you want me to go to school, show me what you want me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was then that Otto recalled the North Central literature and thought, \u201cMaybe I should \u2018Google\u2019 that school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I just utterly fell in love with it,\u201d she said. \u201cI applied but wasn\u2019t able to visit. Just looking back, I don\u2019t know how it all happened. When I turned 18 I bought a one-way ticket on faith, caught, my first cab, stayed in my first hotel\u2026\u201d and started her academic career at NCU.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout this journey everything has been bizarre and exciting, and it\u2019s begun to feel a lot like home here,\u201d Otto said, but added that Minneapolis doesn\u2019t appear to be her landing spot.<\/p>\n

Discovering her direction<\/h2>\n

Otto, who is also the Senior Class Poet, remembered a conversation with a professor that had great meaning about 18 months ago. \u201cThere were some great words spoken into my life by Professor [Desiree] Libengood,\u201d Otto shared, \u201cto seek out God\u2019s dreams for me. My writing and poetry began to shift a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

An internship at Augustana Care<\/a> found her transcribing stories of residents that could be shared with their families and others. One store in particular captured her heart. \u201cI was amazed at the incredible journey of a woman from Croatia,\u201d Otto explained. The woman was an immigrant who dealt with a speech impediment and had encountered many difficulties along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized she had suffered so much more than [she would have] if she had had an advocate. It really broke my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

This process uncovered something deep within. \u201cI had a thirst to do something about the tragedy in the world,\u201d Otto said.<\/p>\n

An advocate for literacy<\/h2>\n

The thought of joining the Peace Corps<\/a> had occurred to Rebekah Otto before college, but she had set the idea aside. But as she was preparing to begin her senior year, the thoughts found their way back to the forefront. \u201cWhy not you?\u201d she thought to herself. \u201cWhy not research your options?\u201d<\/p>\n

As she continued to seek the Lord, Otto took a volunteer position with the Minnesota Literacy Council and taught English as a Second Language\u2014even though teaching was something she had said she would never do. \u201cI built incredible relationships with people,\u201d she said, realizing that without teaching they never would have crossed paths.<\/p>\n

Having gone through the complete application process for the Peace Corps, she waited. Word came in the early part of second semester this year: she was accepted, and she would be teaching English in rural Zambia, in Africa.<\/p>\n

Called to do this<\/h2>\n

\u201cBefore I came to North Central I had always planned to serve with AGWM<\/a> [Assemblies of God World Missions],\u201d Otto said. \u201cI was afraid to do things out of the Christian context\u2014like if I were under a different umbrella my faith would be squashed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve worked in many secular jobs while at school, grappling with the idea that Christ is for everyone. I can\u2019t truly show love to the world until I\u2019m in it; and if my God is all He says He is, then why am I afraid?\u201d<\/p>\n

Intent on resolving this tension, Otto is \u201cbeyond excited\u201d to experience a new culture, learn a new language, to eat new foods, and to see a different expression of Christianity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more sure than I have ever been that I\u2019m called to do this,\u201d Otto stated confidently. \u201cIf I\u2019m truly light, can\u2019t I be light in dark places, also?\u201d<\/p>\n

Otto is awaiting her visa and if it arrives as planned, she\u2019ll be in Washington, D.C., in September for training and will begin her two-year Peace Corps assignment in Zambia in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Anchorage to Minneapolis, North Central University senior Rebekah Otto plans to continue her southward journey. Next stop after graduation is Africa, where she’ll be serving with the Peace Corps in Zambia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-arts-and-sciences","category-ncu-news"],"yoast_head":"\n2018 grad headed to Zambia with Peace Corps - Table Salt | NCU Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From Anchorage to Minneapolis, North Central University senior Rebekah Otto plans to continue her southward journey. 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