Recruiting for peace

Immortalized in President John F. Kennedy's first inaugural address is his call of civic action to Americans, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

The spirit of selfless action invoked in that speech has blossomed into a variety of regional and international service initiatives such as the Peace Corps.

The Corps assigns willing college graduates to serve in community development projects ranging from agriculture consulting to information technology business development.

Peace Corps volunteers work in over 70 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East.

More than 60 years after its inception in 1961, the spirit of international volunteerism that created the Peace Corps still seems to attract many college students.

This past Tuesday, Nov. 28, Peace Corps representatives held a recruitment presentation on campus that numerous students attended.

"It's the Peace Corps. It's got [positive] advertisement built in," said Sean Garrison, a fourth-year Electrical Engineering major, commenting on the large turnout for the event.

Among the main attractions of the Corps to students are the opportunity to travel and the knowledge that they would be making a contribution to improving someone's life.

"It would be an educational experience better than anything at school," Garrison said.

"I know it sounds cheesy, but I would participate [in the Corps] to make a difference in whatever area to help somebody," Garrison said.

Speaking to a nearly full Clary Theatre at the Bill Moore Student Success Center, Valerie Peters, a regional recruiter for the Peace Corps and past program participant, introduced the organization to the audience present and sought to clarify doubts among potential participants.

Peters spoke about her own experiences within the Corps in Honduras.

"When I first went to Honduras for the project, since I was focusing on conservation, I thought I'd only work in training professionals there and [focus] on a big-picture evaluation of the environment,

Peters said.

However, Peters soon headed in a different direction with her work.

"When I saw kids I was working with [had] little more than tortillas with salt as their diet, I helped to diversify what they were eating by working with the local community. In the end, I actually enjoyed working more with the agriculture-related parts of the project than I thought I would," Peters said.

Former participants of Peace Corps programs, including Tech alumni, had generally positive comments about their experiences.

Saira Amir, a recent Public Policy graduate, expressed similar optimism about her current project in municipal development in the Corps.

"Sometimes life as a student at Tech is so overwhelming that you feel like nothing else is going on outside the perimeters of North Ave and 10th Street," Amir said, writing from her current Corps position in Honduras.

"The Peace Corps was probably the best thing I did to escape [this] bubble mentality," Amir said.

"I am thinking about things here that I never spent much time thinking about before. I am able to apply my knowledge of what were previously fuzzy concepts [like] social development, causes of poverty and the effects of globalization to my work here," Amir said.

Peters explained that the application and interview process for the Corps takes over six months and that students would be well advised to apply early in order to enroll in a program as soon as they can.

Students majoring in fields related to engineering, environmental studies and business development are in high demand for the types of programs the Peace Corps offers.

These students can readily find a program of suitable interest in the Corps, according to Peters.

Prospective applicants should be advised that the Peace Corps typically has an acceptance rate of 40%-60% and participation involves an extensive medical check and a commitment to serve almost 27 months in the program.

What do potential Corps participants think about the significant time commitment required to join the program?

Some students commented that selling the idea to family is difficult.

"Basically, answering questions [from] my family like 'we just put you through years of college and now you want to do what?' is the biggest obstacle," said Hannah Cho, a fourth-year International Affairs and History, Technology and Society major.

Cho went on to say that as a child of immigrant parents, learning about other cultures is important to her and that she expects to be able to convince her family of that.

Students interested in knowing more about the program can contact Community Services Coordinator Sarah Brackmann at sarah.brackmann@vpss.gatech.edu.

Students considering joining the Corps can contact Saira Amir at saira.amir@gmail.com to learn more about the day-to-day, personal experiences of participants.