Just days after meeting with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in Temuco, Chile, Quintin Harris had a pressing question on his mind.

“So what happened with Veishea this year?” asked Harris, Peace Corps employee and 1995 Iowa State alumnus.

At ISU, Harris was active in his fraternity, Beta Theta Phi, and he was pleased to learn that most of the ISU community was on its best behavior last weekend.

As students made decisions on whether to honor the dry Veishea pledge, Harris was chatting with Clinton, who had embarked to Chile on a goodwill mission.

The first lady dedicated a renovated cultural center during her visit — a center on which Harris, a graduate in community and regional planning, had worked.

Harris and his group met Clinton at her limo and served as “unofficial” guides in Temuco. During her visit, Clinton met with natives and Harris gave her a tour of the boarding house in which she stayed.

“We talked about the project, the history of the project and the sacrifices that have been made to bring the project to a reality,” Harris said.

“I was very impressed by her modesty; she’s very personable,” he said, adding that in her dedication of the cultural center, Clinton “really keyed into” what life is like for the people of Temuco.

“She’s contributed by supporting the goals and values of the Peace Corps,” he said.

The government of Chile was firmly against having Clinton visit Harris’ project, a piece of advice that Clinton ignored, he said.

“The local government really has been somewhat oppressive to the indigenous population,” Harris said.

He also said the government wanted Clinton to stay in Santiago to experience the city’s entertainment.

“She’s such an incredible person to just ignore [the government’s advice],” he said. “She went down to the ninth region and met directly with these indigenous groups in South Chile; she spoke directly about recognizing the plight of indigenous people and their rights … I thought that was incredible.”

Harris has been participating in the Peace Corps for two years and had been working on the cultural center project for nearly nine months.

But the project has been four years in the making, he said.

“I am the fifth and last volunteer,” Harris said, noting that the Peace Corps Chile is disbanding in June.

“Chile has a really macroeconomics image abroad. There’s still a lot of people struggling,” he said.

He said slash-and-burn farming and a lack of electricity are just two of the country’s problems.

Harris, who calls Chile “the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” said the Peace Corps has an excellent rapport with the citizens.

“We’re accepted with open arms wherever we go,” Harris said, adding that he experienced a culture shock when he first arrived in Chile.

“There are smaller rural towns, no McDonald’s, no 24-hour copy center. It’s a different sort of life,” he said.

The Clearwater native never had considered joining the Peace Corps until he studied abroad in Australia his senior year at ISU.

After all, Harris said he was busy with his work on the Interfraternity Council and with his role as Cy, ISU’s mascot.

“I just loved being at Iowa State,” Harris said. “I enjoyed being involved on campus … I grew up with ISU, something I wanted to be a part of.”

After his trip to Australia, Harris said he began to consider working for the Peace Corps.

“I began to think about how the international stuff is kind of cool,” he said. “I never thought for the life of me that I [could be in the Peace Corps]. I always thought a Peace Corps volunteer would have to be such an extraordinary person … I could never measure up.”

After returning from Australia, he applied to the Peace Corps. Harris said he has been in Chile for nearly two years.

He said adjusting to the Spanish language was difficult in the beginning.

“The first three months were tough,” he said, adding that he had to learn to assimilate with the Chilean government.

“[You have to] learn how to manage through the red tape and get projects done,” he said.

“It’s been incredible. The first year was hard; every volunteer had some dark days when we were ready to hang it up and go home, but all 14 of us are still here,” Harris said.

Although Harris calls the Peace Corps one of the best experiences of his life, he said he’s ready to return to the United States.

“I’m not ready to join again, but it’s definitely something I can consider maybe 20 years from now,” he said.

In the near future, Harris said he plans to enroll in graduate school, and that he may return to ISU to do some prep work.

As for the future of the Peace Corps, Harris said he thinks Americans still have the enthusiasm and the optimism they had for the Corps when President John F. Kennedy founded the organization in the early 1960s.

Harris noted that President Bill Clinton has supported a 50 percent budget increase for the Peace Corps, which would increase the number of volunteers from the current 6,500 in over 80 countries to more than 12,000.

“It’s something you don’t hear a lot about, because that’s not the [point] of the Peace Corps,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who gets the credit.

“[The Peace Corps] is still recognized by everyone as the best American program around,” Harris said. “The future for Peace Corps is very bright.”