From Ireland to the Peace Corps
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WASHINGTON - By the spring of his junior year of college, Matt Clancy faced a dilemma.
The ISU student found himself in Ireland, studying physics and religion, but he didn't feel passionate about either subject.
"I knew I didn't want to do either one of those after college," Clancy said. "I've always been interested in trying to do something that will make a difference or be helpful to people."
After he returned to Ames, Clancy, 22, took a job working in the ISU Study Abroad Center. It was there that he decided he wanted to work in international economic development and that led to him to an internship in Washington.
"I want to do international development-kind of stuff, which is why I jumped on this Peace Corps internship," he said.
Clancy said he applied for an internship through the Washington Center, which connects students with internship opportunities in the capital. The position did come at a cost, however - $8,000, which included tuition and housing. An ISU scholarship paid more than half.
"I wasn't happy that I had to pay," he said. "You get credit, though, so I got 12 credit hours."
He started as an unpaid intern in January, but Clancy said the agency began to pay him for his work after he graduated in May.
Clancy works in the Office of Private Sector Initiatives. It helps connect Peace Corps volunteers abroad with money for small development projects that are secondary to their primary tasks. These projects include installation of wells, school houses or basic sanitation systems.
"We try to get foundations to donate . basically money outside the government," he said. "We try to hook it up with volunteers outside in the field."
Clancy said he spends most of his time working on administrative tasks and researching potential donors.
"I do a lot of paperwork," he said. "My big project they've got me doing for the summer is creating this database of foundations that might be interested in our program. When I have extra time, I work on that."
Clancy's supervisor, Gerard Maguire, said Clancy's strong work ethic has made him exceed expectations of typical interns.
"He's so reliable, you can provide him work and he just takes ownership of it and is responsible," said Maguire, a former Peace Corps volunteer. "There's not a huge amount of follow up you have to do with him."
Without his coursework at Iowa State, Clancy said he wouldn't have made it to Washington. However, he's learned more about economic development on the job than he would in any classroom.
"You need the courses in Ames to get here, but . the semester in D.C. has been really good to learn what you can do in international economic development," he said. "Back when I was in Ames, it was just an idea, and I had no idea what kind of things people actually did about it."
Clancy's wife, India-born Grace Thommandru, also participated in a Washington Center spring internship for the International Association of Women Judges. Both are from Iowa City, met in at West High School and married July 1 in Iowa City.
Although Clancy had lived abroad, he said he had to get used to living in Washington, especially when he and Thommandru moved from a Maryland suburb to downtown Washington after his semester program ended in May.
"There's always culture shock, even if you're used to different cultures," he said. "We moved out of a nice Bethesda suburb into the heart of downtown, and that is when we really got to know the real D.C. Now we walk through every neighborhood and walk through the real thing."
Once their semester programs ended in May, Clancy said Thommandru wasn't able to find another internship.
"She is waitressing, but she makes more money than me," he said. "There would be enough to live off of if I wanted to live by myself in a group home or with other people, but me and my wife have our own place, and because she is working, we can support it."
Once Clancy wraps up his internship at the end of August, he and Thommandru will migrate to Great Britain, where he will pursue a graduate degree in economics at Fitzwilliam College, part of the University of Cambridge.
"I discovered to get any of the jobs I wanted, I would need either foreign language skills, experience internationally or get a master's degree," he said. "Those are the things I think I need to work on to get in a good position later."
The ISU student found himself in Ireland, studying physics and religion, but he didn't feel passionate about either subject.
"I knew I didn't want to do either one of those after college," Clancy said. "I've always been interested in trying to do something that will make a difference or be helpful to people."
After he returned to Ames, Clancy, 22, took a job working in the ISU Study Abroad Center. It was there that he decided he wanted to work in international economic development and that led to him to an internship in Washington.
"I want to do international development-kind of stuff, which is why I jumped on this Peace Corps internship," he said.
Clancy said he applied for an internship through the Washington Center, which connects students with internship opportunities in the capital. The position did come at a cost, however - $8,000, which included tuition and housing. An ISU scholarship paid more than half.
"I wasn't happy that I had to pay," he said. "You get credit, though, so I got 12 credit hours."
He started as an unpaid intern in January, but Clancy said the agency began to pay him for his work after he graduated in May.
Clancy works in the Office of Private Sector Initiatives. It helps connect Peace Corps volunteers abroad with money for small development projects that are secondary to their primary tasks. These projects include installation of wells, school houses or basic sanitation systems.
"We try to get foundations to donate . basically money outside the government," he said. "We try to hook it up with volunteers outside in the field."
Clancy said he spends most of his time working on administrative tasks and researching potential donors.
"I do a lot of paperwork," he said. "My big project they've got me doing for the summer is creating this database of foundations that might be interested in our program. When I have extra time, I work on that."
Clancy's supervisor, Gerard Maguire, said Clancy's strong work ethic has made him exceed expectations of typical interns.
"He's so reliable, you can provide him work and he just takes ownership of it and is responsible," said Maguire, a former Peace Corps volunteer. "There's not a huge amount of follow up you have to do with him."
Without his coursework at Iowa State, Clancy said he wouldn't have made it to Washington. However, he's learned more about economic development on the job than he would in any classroom.
"You need the courses in Ames to get here, but . the semester in D.C. has been really good to learn what you can do in international economic development," he said. "Back when I was in Ames, it was just an idea, and I had no idea what kind of things people actually did about it."
Clancy's wife, India-born Grace Thommandru, also participated in a Washington Center spring internship for the International Association of Women Judges. Both are from Iowa City, met in at West High School and married July 1 in Iowa City.
Although Clancy had lived abroad, he said he had to get used to living in Washington, especially when he and Thommandru moved from a Maryland suburb to downtown Washington after his semester program ended in May.
"There's always culture shock, even if you're used to different cultures," he said. "We moved out of a nice Bethesda suburb into the heart of downtown, and that is when we really got to know the real D.C. Now we walk through every neighborhood and walk through the real thing."
Once their semester programs ended in May, Clancy said Thommandru wasn't able to find another internship.
"She is waitressing, but she makes more money than me," he said. "There would be enough to live off of if I wanted to live by myself in a group home or with other people, but me and my wife have our own place, and because she is working, we can support it."
Once Clancy wraps up his internship at the end of August, he and Thommandru will migrate to Great Britain, where he will pursue a graduate degree in economics at Fitzwilliam College, part of the University of Cambridge.
"I discovered to get any of the jobs I wanted, I would need either foreign language skills, experience internationally or get a master's degree," he said. "Those are the things I think I need to work on to get in a good position later."
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