Keith Pitstick

I'm 29 and I have moved around most of my life. I was born in Indiana, then moved to southern California at 3, just to move to Ontario, Canada at 5. My sister and I started school there and after four years we moved to Omaha, Nebraska. The reason we moved was my dad's job. He was upper management at a production company; he was receiving promotions that transfered us across the country. That is until our move to Texas. A factory closed in Michigan and it was company policy that the most junior factory general manager in the nation would be replaced by the closed factory's general manager. My dad was the junior man. This led to a demotion and a move to Texas.

Texas is now our home. After two years my dad's old job made some corporate changes that trickled down to my dad's termination. He now owns a charter bus business in Texas and Lousiana. He and my mom, a Head Start employee, are looking forward to retirement. My sister still lives in Texas with her husband and son. Texas has become home. I also have two older half sister living in Indiana and Chicago.

They all have nested; I have not. When I was 17 I left for the Marines. I served over 5 years with 3 tours to Iraq. After my service I returned home to Texas and earned 2 BAs from UT Austin, International Relations and History. After graduating I worked for the Office of the Governor. I worked in economic development just under a year; I was then selected for Peace Corps service.

That is where I am now, Paraguay serving in the Peace Corps. I am a Community Economic Development Volunteer. I work with small businesses, local governments, financal and non-govenmental organizations on development projects. I also teach various courses to all levels, elementry to post-college. Some courses include: entrepreneurship, accounting, leadership, literacy, English, geography, and history. I am also a chair on a national initiative focused on small business development; I manage Peace Corp's small business consultancy and the mentor network.

I just returned home in August after 27 months. It was tough to leave after so much time. But that is life. I am currently a grad school studying global policy and am applying to a MBA program.