Co-President’s Message Rebecca’s leaving on a jet plane (again) 2 SHE’S LIVED IN MT. SHASTA, San Francisco, Russia, Norway, England, Korea, and Portland. So it’s no surprise that Rebecca Butterworth, RAPS’ intrepid office manager for the past year, is leaving for a new city and a new academic endeavor: Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University. And she couldn’t be more excited. She’s been accepted by Urban Teachers, a program that works in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins school of education to give students the skills to teach Then it was off to Korea for eight years to teach English and study Korean. “I worked hard to be a great teacher in Korea,” Rebecca recalled. “I just tried to excel and do everything to be sure I taught my students the best way I could.” Rebecca wasn’t the only family member in Korea. One of her three brothers, Michael, followed her there, married a Korean, and together they own an English language school. Another brother, Peter, lives in Cambodia. A third brother, Mark, lives in Sacramento. Be glad you’re not paying the long-distance bill. Rebecca returned to Portland State in 2016 and completed her master’s in political science in June. “My first year at PSU was very difficult,” she said. “I just felt I wasn’t part of it. Then I got the job with RAPS, became chair of the Political Science Club, and worked for the Alumni Association.” “I finally felt I hit my stride my second year,” Rebecca said. “Getting involved in campus activities made a world of difference.” Working for RAPS was a big part of that difference. “It was just a great experience. It’s kind of bittersweet passing the baton to Ilana (Tarasyuk, RAPS’ new office manager). I told Ilana that she’ll get great advice, especially life advice. RAPS members are great people to learn from.” Upon completion of her master’s in education at Johns Hopkins, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in public administration and policy. Rebecca’s ambition is to create policy that will improve the lives of urban school children and provide them the same opportunities that other children receive. Shortly after handing the reins to Ilana in mid-June, Rebecca boarded a plane with Barney, her poodle-terrier mix, Mr. Lee, a Tuxedo cat she brought back from Korea, and Paolo, a feral cat she befriended, and flew to Baltimore to begin her next chapter. On behalf of everyone at RAPS, best of luck, Rebecca! —Doug Swanson —and empower—children in urban schools. “I wanted to be of service and do something good,” Rebecca said of her decision to head east. “The program’s about helping urban kids, giving them opportunities, making sure the kids have hope and confidence and someone in their corner. How could I turn that down?” Rebecca was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but grew up in Mt. Shasta, California, where her father was an engineer and her mother was active in politics. It’s a small town just nine miles from the summit of its namesake, the 14,162-foot peak whose beauty was so great that John Muir, recalling his first sighting, wrote, “I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.” “It was a wonderful place to grow up,” Rebecca recalled of her childhood in Mt. Shasta. “I played outside, I rode my bike, I read voraciously. It was a winter wonderland, it was a summer wonderland. You could go outside and not be scared. Well, there were bears and cougars, so you had to be careful. But it was really idyllic.” Rebecca lived, studied, and worked—teaching, bartending, reporting, translating—in Russia during four stints that totaled two years. During one visit home, she enrolled in PSU’s Russian language program, but left and returned to Russia. She then made pit stops in Norway and England before returning to the United States. She settled in San Francisco and enrolled at San Francisco State, where she earned degrees in Russian and international relations and was named Most Outstanding Student in the international relations department. As we begin a new academic year, it's appropriate to thank Dawn White for her two years of service to RAPS as copresident. Her energy, insight, enthusiasm, and commitment benefited RAPS tremendously and made serving with her a pleasure. Thank you, Dawn! —D. S. Rebecca Butterworth
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