Bio: Sam is enrolled in the M.A. in International Peace Studies, and prior to UPEACE, pursued an undergraduate degree in International Studies at Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana, United States).
If you are ever lucky enough to stand next to Sam, his height is probably the first thing you will notice. Yet his big heart, fueled with empathy for others, and his curiosity for the world, is the most notable of all.
In our conversation with Sam, he shares personal parts of his life that brought him here and an interesting encounter with a local driver…
I don't have the largest family, and it's never really been a travel-heavy family, either, until recently. My mom really showed me the uniqueness that traveling brings to your life. Coming from a small town with values that are based around family and community, here I am as a student in a different country, with aspirations to travel the world.
I went to a very small liberal arts college with about 1500 people at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. We had a very nice international community there. So, I think being in that community and studying international relations on top of being a traveler naturally makes me enjoy the career of being a peace scholar in the field. And then, learning about UPEACE, I think it really made sense to come here after finishing college.
Now I am here, with such a unique opportunity, and it is amazing to me that I am here after being in Indiana my whole life. Coming into Costa Rica, to a university in the middle of the rainforest, after being surrounded by a much different environment, it has been a completely different world and one that I have come to love. It's also on such a larger scale than being at college, talking to so many more people from all over the world and from different countries I haven't heard of before coming here. Realizing how big the world is, and how much it has to offer, is another critical thing. Being curious about the world, thinking and studying about world perspectives, and tying these to the ideas of peace, is what we have been able to do on a small scale with so much perspective from different places in the world.
I think one of the keys to enjoying UPEACE has been curiosity. I think curiosity drives a lot of other students here, including me. A curiosity to reach a similar goal, talking about peace, solving the most complex problems in our society, and how to achieve the “impossible,” which is world peace. This includes defining what peace means, how it can be achieved, and how it can be sustained. We all have come here to think, speak, write and share about what we believe and what we can do as individuals, as groups.
Another important aspect with UPEACE has been that we will all encounter differing opinions, perspectives, and you have to be prepared to listen with an open mind. Before meeting anybody at UPEACE, I had an experience with one of my first uber drivers here. I was telling him that I was going to UPEACE; he said that what I would be doing was nothing, what the school is doing is nothing, and said that there is no chance for a fully peaceful society, so why even try? I felt, at that moment, he was right in a way. Peace feels so hard to fight for, but it is a process that doesn't happen overnight. A path that takes… it takes years, decades, centuries. That’s one key component of my learning experience here so far, is that peace is possible in every aspect, but it will always take time, and an incredible amount of patience.
Written by: Patric Hansen
Photo by: Jed Allen