Meet CAPLA’s Paul D. Coverdell Fellow: Michael Geiger
Meet CAPLA’s Paul D. Coverdell Fellow: Michael Geiger!
Paul D. Coverdell Fellows are returned Peace Corps volunteers who receive financial assistance to pursue graduate degrees at universities across the country. In exchange, fellows complete internships in underserved American communities, applying the skills they learned abroad.
CAPLA has five Coverdell Fellows starting this fall:
- Yamilkal Hernandez Sanchez - 1st Year MSUP
- Lyndsey Shafiei - 1st Year M.Arch
- Tori Markle - 1st Year MLA
- Nick Ihley - 1st Year MLA
- Michael Geiger - 2nd Year MLA
We asked them about how this experience has shaped them, and how it led them from all corners of the globe to CAPLA.
What inspired you to join the Coverdell Fellows program?
I was inspired by the majority of my Peace Corps cohort going on to get degrees through the Coverdell Fellows program. I am the most recent of over a dozen friends from my cohort to pursue this exciting venture, and it always felt like a matter of time and circumstance. When my fiancé (also an RPCV/Coverdell Fellow) got a job in Tucson, the stars aligned for me to pursue the Master’s in Landscape Architecture program that I had been looking at from afar for almost a decade.
Where did you do your Peace Corps work? And why?
I served in Tanzania from 2017 to 2019. Tanzania always stood out as a dream destination to me, with Mt. Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar Island and African Wildlife. It was my first experience outside of the United States and a total fool’s leap, but I loved the experience and my intuition about Tanzania was correct.
What did you find most valuable about your experience?
The Peace Corps at 22 is forced maturation. I had lived my whole young life with the support of family, friends and school. Then suddenly, I’m on my own surrounded by people I don’t know and can barely understand. It was exactly what I needed to kick myself into adulthood and get really comfortable with being uncomfortable. It is a great skill to acquire, and it serves me to this day, from the physical discomfort of the Tucson heat to the stress of graduate school. I’ve been through harder days and know I can get through anything because of the grit I developed in service.
Why did you choose CAPLA to pursue a graduate degree?
CAPLA’s MLA program was the standout program from the entire catalogue of national offerings. It combined so many enjoyable activities that I picked up in Tanzania, from dry climate gardening and drawing to nature and community-based work. CAPLA seemed like (and absolutely proved to be) an awesome, friendly and engaging place to learn and in one of the most amazing natural areas I have ever lived.
What do you hope to accomplish after earning your graduate degree?
It has long been a dream of mine to be a business owner. Since my interest in landscape architecture stems from designing and creating small home perma-gardens and tree nurseries in my arid Peace Corps community, and my favorite procrastination tactic is yard work, I can see myself enjoying residential design-build landscape design work. I like the small scale of residential yards and the intimacy of crafting a dream vision with a homeowner to create their best space. We spend so much time at home and watch kids, pets and ourselves play and grow there, so creating sacred spaces for that to unfold would be a life well spent for me.
How has your Peace Corps experience influenced your graduate studies and career goals?
I am naturally a more introverted and sometimes solitary individual. Upon arrival in Tanzania, we were hit with an African Proverb that states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” That held so much truth throughout my service and continues to ring true through graduate school. The Peace Corps challenges you to pick up skills you never imagined learning, and it was always made easier and more impactful when you learned those skills with your community instead of bearing it all yourself, from language learning to building 10,000-gallon rainwater harvesting tanks. My cohort leans on each other daily to get through the trials of graduate school. I’ll always look to lean on others and let others lean on me throughout my career.
