Hola! Ten years ago I was a Stanford undergraduate like many of you! As to my future and the choices ahead, I was overwhelmed; it was hard to step back and see the bigger picture beyond campus life.

One of the most valuable ‘big picture’ opportunities I had while at Stanford involved travel to other countries. In Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe, I thought about practical applications of the knowledge I was accumulating at school. Moreover, in those new contexts, I began to examine my education through the lens of new cultures, values, and practices.

The most illuminating contrast, of course, was with the developing countries I visited (Cuba, 1998, undergraduate. research grant). Visits to Europe and Japan and other developed nations were terrific, but extended stays in poor countries really opened my eyes.

Now, after having spent time in Guatemala in the Peace Corps, here’s what I suggest as you think about the next few years. Think about doing something different for your next vacation or spring break: go to a poor country and volunteer there for a week.

I remember having a conversation with my freshman roommate Parikshit Kundu, another SLE student living in FloMo. He was from India and is probably somewhere on his way to a Nobel Prize now. We were discussing how to make the world a better place. At one point he asked me if I had ever actually seen poverty, extreme poverty, face-to-face.

It was like getting hit in the head with a Frisbee. My mom had been in the Peace Corps in Togo, but what did I really know about changing the world or making a difference , if I had never seen the world at its worst?

By submitting this piece to The Daily I am appealing to your volunteering instincts and hope some of you might think about spending a week in a place like Guatemala. It’s a great opportunity for working with a cooperative of women and men coffee growers.

A few times a year the coffee growers host a group of students for a “Service-Learning Week.” Student home-stay with farmers, and choose from a palette of coordinated activities such as harvesting, processing, tree planting, jewelry making. For me this is a wonderful opportunity to fulfill the Peace Corps goal of sharing another culture with Americans.

Last year some students from the Stanford Business School spent their spring break learning about coffee. A typical response was this: I don’t think I’ll ever drink coffee the same way again. What an education!” The students left with a lasting understanding of poverty, its complexity, and innovative ways to alleviate it.

Indeed, poverty does not just mean not having food or clean water (though it certainly does mean that too). It also means not having options. Sure, you can throw a ton of aid money at a poor country, but watch and see that get gobbled up without any long-term results. Sustainable development requires commitment to a community, and willingness to shed your preconceived ideas and listen to the needs of other people. Volunteers have up-front, hands-on lessons in patience and flexibility. None of this can be learned in a college textbook. It must be experienced.

Whether it’s in Guatemala or any other developing country, we are needed! I encourage you to re-consider plans for Cancun or Ft. Lauderdale for spring break and volunteer somewhere where you can see how people live off of just $5 a day. That’s about what you spend every day on coffee.

-Alexander Nixon ’00