Students seek post-graduation alternatives with Peace Corps
Students seek post-graduation alternatives with Peace Corps
By ANDREW MOSEMAN / DN Staff Writer
April 29, 2004
It takes three months of intensive language and technical training, a flight halfway across the globe and two years of strenuous volunteer work in an unfamiliar part of the world.
The Peace Corps' requirements may be difficult, but University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior Trent Blare said he would feel far worse if he did nothing at all.
Blare took an agricultural development class at UNL, and it opened his eyes to developing countries struggling with sustainable agriculture, he said.
That steeled his desire to help, said Blare, an agricultural economics major.
Plus, he said, some of his friends are serving in the war in Iraq and their sacrifice also spurred him into service.
"If they can do it, in even worse conditions, I can do it," he said.
Gretchen Mills, Peace Corps representative in the UNL Career Services Office, said 19 UNL graduates are volunteering with the organization, with more, like Blare, in the application process.
The Peace Corps, founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, needs people with open minds who are serious about making a difference in the global community, she said.
While most volunteers are in their 20s and fresh out of college, she said, the organization has no age ceiling -- the oldest worker is an 84-year-old man.
Mills, who volunteered in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, said when a person applies to join, their skills are measured and matched up to a program and a place in the world that needs them. Then they are given two or three regions to pick from.
Blare said he would be participating in the agricultural program, but UNL senior Kristy Theilen said she was chosen to participate in youth development, which involves promoting education and health issues.
Theilen said she plans to start the program in September, and has the choice of serving in Central Asia or Eastern Europe.
She said the upcoming work excited her, but she also had more pragmatic reasons for joining the Peace Corps.
Not sure what to do with herself after graduation, Theilen said volunteering seemed like a solid commitment.
"I was never really sure if I had enough courage," the psychology major said. "But the courage thing kind of flew out the window when I didn't know what to do."
Theilen said she eventually wanted to attend graduate school for psychology, but wasn't in enough of a hurry for the Peace Corps service to interfere with those plans.
"The two years didn't seem like a long time when you're going to go to graduate school for four to seven years," she said.
Blare said he's narrowed his destination choices to Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South America, and he'll also begin the training process in September.
He said he was leaning toward South America because he knew a little Spanish, but would have to study it constantly over the summer. He also wanted to see many friends and family members, as he'll be away from the country for so long.
"I feel kind of overwhelmed," he said. "I've got a lot to do between now and then."
But he said he was beginning to feel restless and ready to go.
"We have a need to help others."
