•Life After College in Detroit •

•

•4

Taking Off

Graduating from college
doesn't mean you have to settle down

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

en he looks back
on his original post-
graduate plans, Joshua
Nathanson is glad fate
stepped in.
A 1994 graduate of Columbia
University whose father lives in
Bloomfield Hills, Nathanson was
planning to work as a paralegal
and eventually go to law school.
Instead, he spent 18 months in
South Africa, working for the Con-
stitutional Assembly, the govern-
ment agency responsible for
putting together a post-apartheid
constitution.
Like many of his cohorts,
Nathanson, 25, opted to take off
for a while after college before join-
ing the claily grind. While he found
exciting work in South Africa, oth-
ers hold off on grad school or seri-
ous career moves by interning
around the world or waiting ta-
bles while aiming for the New
York stage or Hollywood spotlight.
Taking "time off' between college
or graduate school and a perma-
nent job can often inadvertently
jumpstart a career. It also can help
one to gain perspective and clari-
fy goals.
Nathanson is now executive di-
rector of the South African Amer-
ican Organization, a New
York-based group that brings
South African expatriates togeth-
er, for investment and fund-rais-
ing for their former homeland.
"It turns out the advantage was
taking the road less traveled. As
an under g raduate, I wanted to fol-
low a predescribed course ... but
in the end, taking the risk turned
out to be the best option for me,"
Nathanson says. "It allowed me a
lot of unique experiences that set
me apart from the pack."
As a child of expatriates,
Nathanson
has family in South
w
Africa, whom he visited frequent-
ly as a child. In college he spent
a semester there, writing a thesis
LU on police brutality and state-spon-
sored violence under apartheid.
The contacts he made through
that research led to the later con-
stitutional job, which was offered
to him in December 1994, while
he was in the country for a wed-
ding.
Nathanson was responsible for
involving South Africans in the
process of drafting a constitution.

T HE D E TR OI T

W

54

For a year, he arranged hearings
and public meetings, and coordi-
nated informational campaigns.
In 1996, he became head of logis-
tics for the steering committee
working for the constitution's
adoption.
Although the South African
government could not pay him,
Nathanson received a stipend
from USAID (United States
Agency for International Devel-
opment), which covered his living
expenses.
While Nathanson was drawn
to his roots in South Africa, Hunt-
ington Woods-native Merrill Zack
was drawn to Israel. She first trav-
eled there as a student at Kenyon
College: She spent a semester at
Hebrew University and vowed to
return after graduation.
Under the auspices of the
World Union for Jewish Students
(WUJS), Zack spent several
months in the Negev, then found
a job at the Inter-Religious Coor-
dinating Council in Jerusalem.
During her stay at Hebrew U.,
Zack experienced the Jewish side
of Israel. But the second time
around, she "saw Israel with the
blinders off," learning about the
country's Arab communities and
the issues they face.
At the Inter-Religious Coordi-
nating Council, she helped ad-
minister a program that brought
together groups of Arabs and Jews
and also interfaith groups for sem-
inars and networking. She also
helped coordinate dialogue be-
tween Muslim and Jewish edu-
cators.
"Everything about my time in
Israel has led me to where I'm go-
ing," says Zack, who is now pro-
gram associate at the New York
office of the New Israel Fund.
Now, she coordinates educa-
tional events that deal with reli-
gious pluralism, Arab-Jewish
relations, the status of women and
other social issues in Israel. Al-
though she does not know where
her career is headed in the
longterm, Zack is certain it will
somehow connect to Israel, Jew-
ish communal life and the non-
profit sector.
For 25-year-old Mark Bern-
stein, a West Bloomfield native,
"time off' was more of an adven-
ture than a career move.

Right:
Merrill Zack
in her office
at the New
Israel Fund.

Left: The snow-covered tent Mark
Bernstein called home for a month.

Inset: Mark Bernstein, bundled up for
the high altitudes.

After completing a joint law-
master of business administration
program at the University . of
Michigan and subsequently tak-
ing the bar exam, Bernstein was
burnt out on academics. So he
spent two months traveling, cul-
minating in a four-week trek
through the mountains of Nepal
and Tibet.
"I've always loved camping and
wanted to go to a place as isolat-
ed as possible," he says. "Very few
places are as isolated as the Hi-
malayas ... At this point in my life,
I had a huge window of opportu-
nity!,
Accompanied by four other
trekkers and a support staff of 20
people, Bernstein's trip was not
cheap; had he not used frequent
flyer miles, his airfare would have
cost close to $1,700. Add to that
the cost of supplies, gear and the
touring company, and the cost
amounts to between $3,000 and
$4,000.
Despite the expense, accom-
modations were far from cushy.
On the trek, Bernstein ate most-
ly rice and lentils he carried with
him, since little food was available
at high altitudes. He slept on the
ground and was out of reach of
phones and electricity. He also
faced the threat of altitude sick-
ness, avalanches and rock slides.
But he says he "would do it

again in a second." The adventure
expanded his view of the world
and "slammed everything into
perspective."
Now Bernstein is putting his
graduate degrees to work, man-
aging the business end of his fa-
ther's law practice in Farmington
Hills. But while he's settling down
for now, he says he's not going to
leave behind his sense of adven-
ture.
"A lot of people think adventure
is trying to get a parking spot dur-
ing the holidays at a shopping
mall," he says. 'The world is a lot
bigger than many people's view of
it."
Opportunities abound for ad-
venturous college grads who are
not ready to follow a traditional
career path or go to grad school.
And while you probably won't get
rich taking time off, you may be
able to find programs which pay
for, or at least subsidize, living ex-
penses.
For a listing of programs both
in the United States and abroad,
check out the chapter entitled "Al-
ternatives" in Stacey Kravetz's
Welcome to the Real World. In ad-
dition to providing stipends, many
programs offer college loan defer-
rals and other perks. Among the
alternatives are the Peace Corps
((800) 424-8580), where you could
assist with agricultural projects,

teach public health or English, or
lead countless other activities in
a developing country.
On the domestic front are pro-
grams like AmeriCorps USA
((800) 942-2677) and AmeriCorps
VISTA ((800) 942-2677) which re-
cruit full-time volunteers to work
in low-income U.S. communities.
Neighborhood Green Corps ((202)
547-9178) recruits volunteers to
work on environmental issues in
urban areas.
If you're interested in teaching,
Teach for America ((800) 832-
1230) places recent non-education
major grads in inner-city and rur-
al classrooms where teachers are
sorely needed. And the
WorldTeach program ((800) 4-
TEACH-O) places teachers of
English in non-English speaking
areas around the world.
For Israel opportunities, con-
tact the Michigan/Israel Connec-
tion at (248)645-7878. One of the
most popular programs for Jew-
ish grads is Project Otzrna, a year-
long program in which you learn
Hebrew, live on a kibbutz, volun-
teer in a development town and
meet Israelis. If you have Hebrew
skills and are committed to caus-
es like Jewish-Arab coexistence
and human rights, you may also
want to contact the New Israel
Fund at (202) 223-3333, which of-
fers volunteer opportunities and
paid internships.
For those interested in a pro-
gram that combines Jewish issues
and Third World development,
you may want to investigate the
Jewish Volunteer Corps ((212)
736-2597). That program places
Jewish adults with professional
skills on short-term assignments
in developing countries. O

—_\

' —

/