Matthew Tomlin served as an Urban Agriculture Extension Agent in Senegal, West Africa since 2014 through the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development program at Illinois State University. The experience provided hands-on community development training and an opportunity to represent the United States. While abroad, Tomlin gained lessons in persistence and patience. Returning to campus for his December graduation ceremony is important for Tomlin to feel a sense of completion after his years of study and service. Several other students from the Stevenson Center program will also graduate, including those who studied public policy, sociology, and applied economics.

1. Matthew Tomlin: From Senegal to ceremony
As a Master’s International student at the Stevenson Center for Community and
Economic Development, being able to engage in service initiatives in foreign countries is just a
part of the program, but for Matthew Tomlin, walking across the stage this December is an
important end to a fulfilling experience.
Having served in Senegal, West Africa since November, 2014, Tomlin has been lending
his time and energy as an Urban Agriculture Extension Agent where he experienced community
development first-hand. Along with hosting training session on organic agriculture techniques,
Tomlin also served as an ambassador in Senegal where he represented the people of the United
States of America to the local community. Tomlin’s experience abroad and with the Stevenson
Center here on campus has been a lesson in persistence and patience, which he believes deserves
his complete attention when it comes time for him to graduate this December. However, getting
back to Normal has proved difficult for students just like Tomlin in years past.
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2. Graduate students who are placed in countries hundreds of miles away from Illinois
State—like Tomlin—are often limited to a short and sometimes boring graduation experience.
Because of the great distance some students are required to take to be handed their diploma,
students receiving their degree typically opt to receive their diploma via standard mail services,
an uninspiring means of receiving a piece of paper worth an immense amount of time, money,
and energy. Having graduated from Illinois State in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in economics,
Tomlin believes making the journey home is essential to making the last few years come to
fruition.
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Tomlin joins several other graduates going forward from the Stevenson Center. As of
August 2015, eight students have graduated from various programs offered by the Center:
 Joanna Bossi, MS POL
 Margaret Anderson, MS POL
 Ashley Conrad, MS SOC
 Christina Davila, MS SOC
 Katie Raynor, MS SOC
 Brett Michaelson, MA APL ECO
 Dan Sheets-Poling, MS APL ECO
 Katie Simpson, PCF POL