Nico Defosse, a fourth-year studying human biology and French literature, recently earned the opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps. Defosse plans to graduate in the spring and will travel to a Cameroonian village to work alongside local leaders as an HIV coordinator for at least two years.
Defosse said joining the Peace Corps has been a goal of his for a long time. He recalls first hearing about the opportunity when a recruiter visited his high school. Ever since then, he’s made an effort to stay up to date with the organization and kept the opportunity in the back of his mind. He finally began the application process in August of 2022 and learned of his acceptance into the Peace Corps at the end of October.
In completing his application, Defosse enlisted the help of Inas Messiha, a teaching associate professor in the Foreign Languages Department who he has taken many classes with during his time at NC State. Messiha said Defosse’s desire to join the Peace Corps seemed only natural to her.
“It made a lot of sense because he was really, really interested in learning about others and really understanding how people think and why,” Messiha said.
Defosse strongly emphasized this aspect of the Peace Corps. He said connecting with the local people in Cameroon is his ultimate goal.
“Half of my job in service is cultural exchange,” Defosse said. “That’s a part of my job description: going to local events, eating local food, spending time in the community. So alongside all the HIV work, I’m just representing America.”
Defosse said an integral part of his confidence in immersing himself into this new culture comes from his study of the French language throughout his years at NC State, which is also the primary language in Cameroon.
Both Inas and Defosse said language is among the most important tools a person can have as a college graduate, but this fact is seldom acknowledged by today’s students.
“Language is just a tool that you use to actually perform the job that you wanted to perform all along, you can just perform it in a larger environment,” Messiha said.
In fact, Defosse said he largely credits his language skills for his acceptance into the Peace Corps.
“Getting more involved in a language makes you way more competitive,” Defosse said. “In terms of the biology aspect, I don’t really think I stood out all that much. I enjoyed maternal health, but I think what really made me competitive is my level of French. They really want you to represent America well, and if you can’t communicate, it doesn’t really matter how great at biology you are.”
Defosse said his in-depth understanding of French will not only help him deeply connect with the people he meets during his service, but also serve him well in performing his job as HIV coordinator in conjunction with his knowledge of biology.
“I’m basically going to be teaching people safe sex practices and promoting knowing your HIV status,” Defosse said.
After he graduates in the spring, Defosse will go through training in Washington, D.C. with other Americans and then leave for Cameroon on June 6. In Cameroon, he’ll go through another three months of training before officially beginning his job as HIV coordinator.
