Remarkable journeys bring students back to Iowa

Alumni with international knowledge defy state ‘brain drain’ and put down roots in Iowa
By Kelli Andresen

As the landscape of the State of Iowa transforms, university administration, government officials and business people complain about two words: brain drain.

According to the United States Census, 30,000 people between the ages of 25 and 34 left Iowa from 1995 to 2000 – about 5,000 people a year. Between 2000 and 2004, that number jumped to roughly 8,700 leaving annually, securing Iowa's spot as the state with the 10th-highest emigration rate in that time period.

Despite those numbers, there are still University of Iowa graduates bucking the brain drain trend and staying in the Hawkeye State. Students who, through International Studies degrees and study abroad programs, have traveled the world and experienced different cultures, and still choose to call Iowa home.

These students, in particular, have made remarkable journeys and have decided to bring that knowledge and insight back to Iowa. Following are profiles of five UI alumni who have put down roots in Iowa, contributing to the fields of business, education, politics, engineering and non-profit community outreach.

Chris Larsen

When Chris Larsen, 23, came to the University of Iowa, he deviated a bit from the usual industrial engineering major path.

Unlike most of his peers, who focused strictly on their engineering curriculum, the May 2006 graduate decided to throw in some Italian classes as well. The Indianola, Iowa, native took a class trip to Italy in high school and fell in love with the country.

“The culture really kind of sucked me in,” Larsen said. “I liked the laid back attitude that they had. That’s kind of where it started. When I was over there I tried to take in as much of the culture as possible.”

Since his initial trip, Larsen has returned to Italy three times. During his spring 2003 semester, he studied at Lorenzo d’Medici, in the heart of Florence through a company called Study Abroad Italy. While there, he focused on fulfilling general elective requirements and enjoyed focusing on something other than his engineering courses. He said unlike most of his fellow American students, he didn’t travel across Europe. Rather, he spent all of his time in Italy, hiking and traveling to all of the different small towns in the region. Because of his love for cooking, he spent a lot of time learning about Italian food.

“When I was over there I was trying to fit into the culture and experience the language,” he said. “You get out of it what you want to get out of it. When it’s your experience you can make of it what you want.”

Yet despite his love affair with Italy, he decided to stay in Iowa after graduation.

“I really enjoy living here. Growing up here, I enjoyed everything about it. It’s a safe place to live and a good place to have a family.”

Larsen used his experiences in Italy and fluency in the language to get a job with Sacmi, an Italian manufacturing company. Fortunately for him, Sacmi’s North American headquarters are in Urbandale. Larsen wanted to stay in Iowa, but also find a job where he could use his Italian language skills. Sacmi fit the bill.

The UI alum said there are many opportunities for students to stay in Iowa upon graduation, as long as they’re willing to look for them. “Don’t hold back on what you want to do. If you have a goal, there is always a way to do it. I wanted a company that would connect me to Italy but keep me in the States, and I found that.”

Larsen said he would definitely encourage other engineering students to study abroad. “You spend so much time living in the box doing homework and class projects. You don’t get much time to enjoy college. Going abroad you can make it anything you want. You can study hard – study the language – or travel.”

Overall, Larsen is pleased with his decision to stay in the Hawkeye State and doesn’t see himself contributing to the infamous Brain Drain.

“I can see myself staying in Iowa. Sacmi is a really great company. This could quite possibly be the first and last company I work for.”

Dina Shalash

Dina Shalash is half Egyptian and half American, grew up in London and Iowa City and has traveled to Egypt every year of her life, but it took a devastating event for her to really appreciate both halves of her identity.

“My Muslim identity really came about after September 11,” Shalash said. “After 9/11, I felt confused and I wanted to learn more from research and positive role models. I wanted to avoid the negative stereotypes and circumstances during that time."

That realization helped create a career path for the 23-year-old that would allow her to help young Muslims and serve as a role model for them.

Despite her extremely international and intercultural childhood, Shalash has spent the last two summers working in Iowa City for Americorps through the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County. This summer, the May 2006 graduate facilitated a summer camp for teenagers in Iowa City’s Broadway neighborhood. Last summer she worked in a predominantly Sudanese community in Iowa City, where she began to realize how important it is for young Muslims to have a role model, especially after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Shalash’s desire to serve as a mentor for young Muslims was enhanced even more during her junior year at the UI, when she studied abroad at American University in Cairo.

“It’s weird to be here and see how people think about Arabs and Muslims,” Shalash said. “But when I’m in Egypt, it’s the same thing. I see and hear what my cousins say about Americans. I feel like I’m always on the defensive because I don’t know everything, and I don’t want to represent all Muslims or all Americans.”

Now, with the culmination of her education in international studies and communication, Shalash would like to pursue a master’s degree in education, so she can continue to work with the younger generations of Arabs and Muslims. Ultimately, she said would like to teach or serve in an administrative role in an area with a large Arab American population or find a job where she could work in both Egypt and the United States. She said her work in Iowa City has been a great learning experience because she would love to work in a  youth-based organization in a smaller community.

“I really do like it here,” she said. “I like living in a small town. There are so many people here that do want to help people. The Neighborhood Centers are a great example of that.”

Emily Dvorak

Emily Dvorak is working hard to open doors for her students at Horace Mann Elementary School.

Dvorak, project director of Mann’s 21st Century Grant – Puertas Abiertas (Open Doors in Spanish) – coordinates a daily after-school program for 60 kindergarten through sixth grade students at Horace Mann. The program offers academic and enrichment activities for students learning English as their second language.

The 28-year-old, who studied psychology and Spanish while at the UI, never could have guessed she would still be in Iowa four years after graduating. During her study abroad experience in Santiago, Chile, Dvorak never would have guessed that what she was going through would help her relate to students someday. After being fully immersed in a Spanish-speaking culture, the Waterloo native said she has a pretty good idea of what her students are feeling as they try to become more proficient in a second language.

“I can relate to them academically, because I know how hard it is to do homework in a different language. I know that they’re physically and mentally tired,” she said. “I can relate to them culturally because I know they are trying so hard to keep their culture but still be American. I know what it’s like to go through the day and struggle like that.”

In addition to her after-school program duties, Dvorak works with the students’ parents and support systems to help ease the transition from their native culture to Iowa City. A group of students’ parents have formed a group, Parents Advocating for Puertas Abiertas – or PAPAS – who hold social gatherings and further the mission of the English language acquisition program.

Dvorak said the most difficult part of her job is being a native Iowan. She said that, even though Iowa City is not her hometown, comparing the relative ease of her life to the struggles her students and families go through can make the job seem more frustrating.

“I want them to have different experiences,” Dvorak said. “I want things to be easy for them.”

Although it’s not where she envisioned being just a few years ago, Dvorak said she wouldn’t change her situation and her work for anything.

“My job is so rewarding,” she said. “It’s lots of work and time, but at the end of the day, it’s worth it. There is so much light at the end of the tunnel.”

Dvorak began a master’s degree in secondary education through Kaplan University this fall, so she can continue working in school systems. She said she’s pleased with her life in Iowa City.

“This is where I’m supposed to be right now,” she said.

Abby Restko

When Abby Restko, 24, went to Venice, Italy, in the summer of 2004 as a participant in the UI printmaking and drawing study abroad program, she never realized her experience and the things she saw there would soon become her life’s work.

While in Venice, Restko became enthralled with the beautiful glass art and jewelry she saw when she visited the island of Murano. Murano glass is art glass that comes from the island, which sits in the Venetian lagoon. The people of the island are known for their master glassmaking and the craft dates back to the seventh century. Glassmakers have been on the Venetian lagoon since 1291, when the Venetian republic ordered the glassmakers to move their foundries because of the fire danger to Venice’s wooden buildings. Many families on Murano have been blowing glass for generations.

“I hadn’t seen anything like it in the United States,” Restko said. “I brought lots of the jewelry home for friends, and people would stop them on the streets and ask them where they got it. I realized you just couldn’t find stuff like this in the U.S.”

Realizing the demand, Restko, who majored in marketing and studied art and accounting while at the UI, opened Glassando, a boutique that sells handmade glass jewelry and accessories from around the globe, including Italian, Polish, Mexican and American pieces. Restko, who graduated from the UI in July 2005, opened her store in Old Capitol Town Center in downtown Iowa City a week after graduation.

The Chicago native admits that she never expected to live in Iowa City, or even in a small town, after graduating from college, but decided to open her shop in Iowa City for a number of reasons.

“I really liked the diversity of Iowa City,” she said. “Old Capitol Mall is a great location. There is a wonderful cross section of people. This is an urban idea that wouldn’t work in a smaller town. Here, I have the traffic of an urban area, but not the sky high rent.” Restko explained that between her physical location and her online store at http://www.glassando.com she reaches a wide cross-section of people.

Restko said that, although she originally came to the UI because she thought it would be fun to live in a small town for a couple of years, she is pleased with her decision to stay in Iowa. She said from her experience, she doesn’t buy into the idea that larger cities have more things to do.

“In Iowa City, I do about the same amount of activities as when I lived in Chicago,” she said. “Here it’s different because you actually do them instead of just thinking about them. I live three blocks from the art museum, so it’s easier to get there, or if I know a show is at Hancher for three nights, I’ll make sure I get there.”

McKinley Bailey

McKinley Bailey got his first taste of international life when he lived in Peru for a year as a 16-year-old Rotary Club foreign exchange student. The next time he went overseas, he had just graduated from high school and was serving in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a student at the UI, Bailey spent two months in João, Brazil, interning with Bentonisa, a company facing competition with foreign producers.

Those experiences helped the Webster City, Iowa, native realize how important it is to create a globalized economy in the smaller towns and rural regions of his home state.

Bailey, 26, is seeking a two-year term as state representative in Iowa House District 9, his home district in north central Iowa. As of press time, the results of the election were not known. He said he doesn’t think the current and past legislatures have done enough to ensure rural Iowa’s place in the world economy.

“I feel the leadership right now in Des Moines is not doing the kinds of things necessary to keep rural economies viable and help them to transition,” Bailey said. “The rural areas of Iowa don’t have a voice. This is a real opportunity for us.”

The UI alum received his bachelor of arts degree in international studies, with a focus on international business practices and said that, if elected, he would like to use that knowledge to help the State of Iowa.

“The biggest part I will be involved in is the economy,” Bailey said. “I want to help rural areas transition into the global economy. It is hard to understand the global economy if you don’t have the experience. That will be the biggest way in which I do this.”

As an Army veteran, Bailey is also concerned with the plight of those fighting during wartime, as well as their return home. While at the UI, he founded the UI Veterans Association, which helps returning soldiers with the transition into college life. What started out as a way to keep veterans informed about benefits and paper work has matured into an organization of approximately 80 members. In January 2006, a Veterans Transition Center opened in the Pomerantz Career Center, and Bailey said a Veterans Lounge is in the works to open in the Communications Center. The Transition Center has a counselor to assist veterans and link them to various agencies to provide services. The lounge will serve as a place to hang out and will be where the club holds meetings and has office space.

Bailey said he is happy to stay in Iowa and looks forward to the contributions he can make in the state he grew up in.

“It’s home. This is where my family is,” he said. “I feel real lucky growing up here. I got a lot of great experiences and help from the community. They’re having trouble here now, and I’d like to give back to them.” 

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