Community Corner

Fallston Woman Joins Peace Corps, Heads To Benin

Melissa Ashley Applegate, 20, of Fallston was been accepted into the Peace Corps.

A 20-year-old Fallston woman set out Tuesday to give back in a global way.

Melissa Ashley Applegate, a Fallston High School graduate, left for the Republic of Benin Tuesday to begin training as an environmental education volunteer with the Peace Corps, according to a release from the Peace Corps Mid-Atlantic Region.

"I want to help others to the best of my ability and at the same time grow as an individual through new experiences," Applegate said in the release.

For the next two years, Applegate will live in the West African country where she will teach people in the community about environmental education and natural resource management, the release states.

During her first three months the Fallston resident will live with a host family to become immersed in the culture and language there. 

After gaining the cultural and language skills needed, she will be sworn in and assigned a community in Benin, the release states.

“The Peace Corps is an amazing opportunity to travel and help others while using my university degree,” she said.

After graduating from Fallston High, Applegate obtained a bachelor of science in ecology and conservation in 2012 from James Cook University in Townsville in Queensland, Australia.

Applegate joins Marylanders currently serving in the Peace Corps, the release states.


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