Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 1:08 AM CDT

For many students, college graduation is a time for searching for a job.

However, for one Yankton native, graduating college meant a time for her to serve with the Peace Corps.

Laura Johnson graduated from Yankton High School in 2008 and attended the University of Oregon, where she majored in journalism with a minor in art. She graduated this past June.

Now she is set to begin a two-year volunteer service in Lesotho, a tiny nation located in southern Africa.

“I really thought that this would be the next thing in my life that would help shape me as a person and add to my bag of experiences,” Johnson said. “I had thought about doing this for a long time. I started going to recruitment events on campus and talked to volunteers who had done it in the past.”

She added that almost everyone she talked to said there will be days that she will hate her decision, but after her time in Lesotho is over, she would not regret the experience.

Johnson started applying for the Peace Corps in June 2011, when she filled out the initial application online.

After she turned in the initial application, she was contacted for an interview. During the interview, she was presented with several hypothetical scenarios on things that could happen while she’s serving.

Even though applicants are allowed to put a location preference on their application, Johnson did not do so.

“I have a background in Spanish language, so if they wanted to send me to a Spanish country, they’ll see that I have that skill,” she said. “I was willing to take the challenge and knowing that it would be a surprise no matter what, even if I did put a preference on geographic region.”

She finally found out that she had been accepted into the program in the winter.

However, the nomination said she would be teaching in Northern Africa or in the Middle East. Without hesitation, she accepted.

Months later she found out she would be actually serving in Lesotho, which is in southern Africa.

Lesotho is a country that is landlocked by South Africa and is very mountainous. The country has a population of about 2 million, and is roughly the size of the state of Maryland

Mary Milroy, Johnson’s mother, said she was concerned for her safety when she heard of the initial location.

“My heart about sank when I heard where she would be initially,” she said. “I was a bit fearful for her safety. I told her if she ever feels unsafe to not hesitate to come home immediately.”

Johnson said she has been focusing on packing over the last few weeks, and is calm about her trip.

“We are allowed to bring 100 pounds of luggage, and they gave us a packing list and had feedback from volunteers in the country on what to bring,” she said. “They suggested a good set of knives because the quality of knives in Lesotho isn’t very good. They also said to bring recipes from home but you might have to substitute some local ingredients.”

When she arrives in Lesotho, she will be staying with a host family doing training until December. At that point, she will be inducted as a volunteer through December 2014.

“Right now we don’t really have the details on where in the country I’ll be staying for the two years,” she said. “I won’t even know too much about the conditions of the country until I get there. I’ll find out everything when I get there.”

During training, volunteers go through rigorous language instruction along with safety training and integration into the community.

“They want you to have a support network and develop friends and connections within the community, which is a great way to be safe,” Johnson said.

She departed from Omaha Tuesday, and will meet the rest of the volunteers going to Lesotho today (Wednesday) in Philadelphia for a two day orientation.

Lesotho has a high demand for English teachers.

“English teachers are in very high demand there because a lot of young men go to work in South Africa to send money back to their families,” Johnson said. “It helps a lot in South Africa if you have a background in English.”

She said that although she might get homesick, she is not planning on visiting her family in Yankton during her two years of service. Instead, with the two days a month of vacation time volunteers accrue, she plans on traveling around Africa. However, her family is planning a visit to Lesotho late next year to visit her.

“I’m really excited to be somewhere completely different and new,” Johnson said. “They told us that most volunteers there have either electricity or running water. However, a few have both and a few have neither. I think I would rather have running water if I had to choose.”

Despite being fairly calm for her trip, there are still things that make her  nervous.

“I’m really nervous because the country is so isolated,” she said. “There would never be a time in my life where communication has been so inhibited. Also, the language barrier will be tough to begin with.”

The official languages of Lesotho are Sesotho and English. However, many of the rural communities do not have a strong English background.

Johnson said the Peace Corps sent volunteers a phrase book with some pronunciations in it. However, she thinks being in the country will help break down the language barrier.

“What seems like a simple phrase will end up being like 30 syllables,” she said. “I’m going to sink or swim with the language, but hopefully I’ll catch on quickly.”

Despite not knowing a lot about the conditions she will face, Johnson has learned a little bit about the country by talking to volunteers that served there and doing research.

“The country looks really beautiful,” she said. “They have a lot of youth that are shepherds that look over herds.”

She said that there is a big tourism industry in Lesotho that features a lot of backpacking and outdoors activities. Lesotho even has one of the only ski resorts in Africa.

“I’ve heard that the native people are very friendly,” Johnson added. “The government has had a very positive relationship with Americans and with Peace Corps members.”

She praised the mentors she has had throughout her education, including teachers from YSD.

“The mentors I’ve had are a big reason why I did so much volunteering in college,” she said. “I think this will be a very formative and eye-opening  experience.”

Johnson is really hoping the experience will be one that challenges her.

“When you do new things that aren’t easy at first, you have a lot of room for growth,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a way of life that most people around the world live like, that is so different than the way we live here.”

Johnson plans on keeping a blog of her experiences during her years of service in Africa to let her friends, family and members of the community what she is up to.

“I think this experience will help shape the kind of direction I want to take in the future,” she said. “It will undoubtedly change the way I look at things.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal