成人色导航

August 17, 2022 | By Patricia Moore

How does one proceed from a liberal arts education to a , to a career devoted to reducing poverty through microfinance initiatives? For Steven Werlin (A85), a communications and learning officer at the Haitian nonprofit , the answer begins with his intensive and transformative St. John鈥檚 education. 鈥淣ot only did the college change the way I read, studied, and thought about the world, St. John鈥檚 also helped me make connections that would be decisive for my future life and work,鈥� Werlin states.

Tutors, Languages, and Community Paved the Way

Asked about St. John鈥檚 influence on his life鈥檚 trajectory, Werlin says, 鈥淭he people I admired most in my twenties and thirties were my teachers at St. John鈥檚,鈥� citing 鈥渉ow carefully they listened鈥� as a major influence. 鈥淪t. John鈥檚 is where I really started to love reading and learned the value of paying closer attention,鈥� he added.

Though he knew some German upon his arrival at St. John鈥檚, the community as well as tutors inspired Werlin to become more proficient in the language. He cites Mrs. Klein, a World War II refugee who was married to revered tutor Jacob Klein, as a mentor. 鈥淪he spoke the most elevated German imaginable,鈥� Werlin recalls. 鈥淪he introduced me to a German-speaking culture of highly educated people.鈥� Consequently, through the Great Books and Klein鈥檚 circle, Werlin became keenly interested in German philosophers, particularly Martin Heidegger.

And it was another St. John鈥檚 mentor, Brother Robert Smith (H90), who encouraged Werlin to pursue a Fulbright Fellowship to study Heidegger with a friend of Smith鈥檚, professor Heribert Boeder, in Germany. 鈥淚 was awarded the fellowship largely due to Brother Robert,鈥� says Werlin. The Catholic brother was a much-beloved tutor who came to St. John鈥檚 from St. Mary鈥檚 College, Moraga, California, where he had established a program that followed the St. John鈥檚 curriculum.

Where a Fulbright Can Lead

Werlin credits his 1985鈥�86 Fulbright Fellowship in Philosophy at Technische Universit盲t Braunschweig, Germany, for 鈥渙pening doors that allowed me to go further in academia,鈥� he says. Following the nonlinear professional path of many Johnnies, he did not pursue another degree immediately upon leaving Germany. 鈥淔ulbright was like a ticket to graduate school after doing nonacademic work for two years at the University of Alabama,鈥� he states.

Werlin earned an MA and PhD in philosophy at Loyola University of Chicago. He served as a visiting tutor at St. John鈥檚 Graduate Institute (1991, 1994, 1996) as well as faculty member, dean of the college, and dean of students at Shimer College, Chicago, Ill. Since 1997, he has focused on education and microfinancing initiatives in Haiti through two nonprofit organizations, Pwoj猫 Wonn Refleksyon and Fondasyon Kole Zep貌l (Fonkoze). He is the author of To Fool the Rain: Haiti鈥檚 Poor and their Pathway to a Better Life, 2016.

The Liberation of a Johnnie Education

鈥淪t. John鈥檚 was very helpful in not being a (specific) degree program,鈥� says Werlin. 鈥淭his was very freeing because it helped me figure out what I did and did not want to pursue.鈥� His St. John鈥檚 connections and education鈥攍earning to read, examine and discuss texts, as well as to study languages鈥攍ed directly to the opportunity to study in Germany on a Fulbright Fellowship, an experience Werlin describes as 鈥渆xtraordinary.鈥� For Johnnies considering applying for a Fulbright award, Werlin counsels, 鈥淚f someone is able to take a year without the external pressures of meeting income and degree requirements, and to do it in another language, I couldn鈥檛 recommend it highly enough.鈥� He explains, 鈥淭he Creole language is nothing like German, but living, working, and studying in a language that is not my own in Germany really opened things up for me.鈥� Werlin adds that he would be happy to speak with Johnnies considering applying for Fulbright awards. He can be reached at swerlin(at)fonkoze.org.