Shaped by his mother's experience with the Peace Corps and the support of a Cornell alum, Nicholas Yelkin '25 is about to embark on his second trip to Mongolia as he takes on a new role teaching English at a middle or high school with the Peace Corps.
Starting with an intensive language and culture training earlier this summer, Yelkin will be in Mongolia for a total of 27 months. The Peace Corps, which was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, accepts applications from U.S. citizens 18 or older. Their primary goal is to promote world peace and friendship by helping developing countries with education, health, youth development, and other areas.
This isn’t Yelkin’s first time in Mongolia. His first trip, in the summer of 2025, happened as a result of a class he took while at Cornell.
“I took an introduction to cultural anthropology course on campus with Dr. Julia Clark. She talked about her work abroad and with a company called Nomad Science,” Yelkin said. “I talked to her more after the class ended and she said to email her after I graduated and we’d talk more.”
Julia Clark ’06 founded and now directs the nonprofit, Nomad Science, which focuses on interdisciplinary research in Mongolia, 20 years ago. Her work for them includes trips to Mongolia searching for historic nomad campsites, putting ancient graves back together after looters strip them, and researching the domestication of reindeer.
“He was in my class, and he was really keen. He told me he’d be interested in Mongolia,” Clark said. “I remembered him, of course, and so was happy to invite him along.”
A year later, when Yelkin went to Mongolia with Clark, they started in the capital: Ulaanbaatar. After a three-day drive to their campsite, the two Cornellians began cataloging, cleaning, and restoring the graves.
“It rained almost every day out there. We just had to work around it and adapt,” Yelkin said. “But I absolutely love Mongolia. Everyone’s so nice, so welcoming. They just love welcoming people, talking, and learning more. It’s one of my favorite countries I’ve been to in my life.”
Experiencing Mongolia for the first time with an alumna as his mentor gave him the confidence to choose Mongolia for his Peace Corps posting. Yelkin felt comfortable with the people and the culture and knew he could use his Cornell psychology degree to teach the children of Mongolia. After completing his assignment, he plans to pursue graduate school.
“If you can, explore the world some more. I mean, it’s a huge world, and everyone’s so nice. I like to be there for others and help them with what they need. I hate what-ifs. Like, what if I tried it?” Yelkin said. “I like to play with yes.”
Clark also valued their time together and hopes to interact with more students and alumni in the future.
“I’m really excited that Nick is coming back for the Peace Corps. That he was able to immerse himself in the culture enough to say, yeah, I would come back and do this longer term,” Clark said. “Seeing Nick and other students that I’ve had do good things is all I can hope for.”