Graduate Profile: Nicole Rohrkemper
World peace may seem too big a stretch for some, but Alma College alumna Nicole Rohrkemper is willing to extend an olive branch wherever she can.
As the International Peace Teams Deployment Coordinator for the Michigan Peace Team, she recruits and deploys groups for nonviolent intervention in war and conflict zones.
“I have always been fascinated by other cultures and far-off places, and I have a passion for international travel,” says Rohrkemper, who graduated in 2005. “In the past 10 years, I have spent time in Argentina, Thailand, Germany, Switzerland, Jordan and many other countries.”
Rohrkemper, who studied economics, first became interested in conflict resolution during her junior year of college.
“I got a summer job as a receptionist at a family law firm, where I ended up staying for four years,” she says. “Through my work in mediation as a legal assistant and manager at the firm, I was able to see again and again that families got the results they needed from the mediation process.”
Now, she hopes to pursue a higher degree in conflict resolution or peace conflict studies.
“In every place or culture, you find a few fanatics, but the every day person living in a far off place is not scary, violent or hateful," says Rohrkemper. "That person just wants to lead a life with his or her basic human rights intact.”
