Opportunities available with Peace Corps after graduation

JFK sent off the first members of the Peace Corps in 1961. Photo Courtesy of Associated Press
JFK sent off the first members of the Peace Corps in 1961. Photo Courtesy of Associated Press
JFK sent off the first members of the Peace Corps in 1961.
Photo Courtesy of Associated Press

BY VERONES PADILLA

SC Staff Writer

The Peace Corps held an information session on March 11 in Stroud Hall to promote their Educational Programs overseas to ESU students.

The Educational programs overseas are one of the largest areas of need for the Peace Corps.

The volunteers for these programs will be part of a team that teaches English, health, literacy, math and science to places all around the world.

Volunteer positions require at least a bachelor’s degree and a minimum GPA of 2.5.  Some programs allow students to wave student teaching requirements after a tour is completed.

It is advised for applications to be submitted as early as possible within a nine month to a year time frame from the desired departure date. Tours are typically for 27 months and the country a volunteer is assigned to depends on positions available.

There are several educational programs to choose from.  Volunteers may work with secondary students teaching English or work with local teachers organizing curriculums and methodologies that provide the best outcome for local students.

For those with mathematical and scientific aptitude, there are positions that teach math or science courses.  These volunteers would also help local teachers improve their techniques and develop materials for their students.

Special Education teachers may volunteer to work with local schools and teachers to improve the instruction, classroom management and resource development for their students with special needs.

There are also positions available teaching University students English.  These volunteers may also be asked to establish English language clubs or resource centers.

The Peace Corps was established in 1961, when JFK urged his nation to, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

Christina Luongo, who did a tour in Bolivia from 2002 to 2004 as a nutritional education volunteer said, “Those two years and those kids have given me more than I had imagined possible. Even though the Peace Corps had been on my mind since high school, I never conceptualized how it would feel to be at the other end of those 27 months.”

Luongo continued, “Tiraque became a home, the people at the orphanage a part of my family. I’ve learned to love in a way more profound than I’ve ever known before—how to be an older sister, a mentor, a friend. Those two years weren’t about work at all; they were about life, in all its depths, full of laughter and tears.”

Volunteers can expect to benefit from learning a language through cross-cultural and technical training.  The Peace Corps covers travel costs and volunteers are given a stipend for living and housing expenses.

While overseas, all volunteers are provided with full medical and dental coverage, loan deferment and some may qualify for loan forgiveness.

Volunteers are given some vacation time to explore the country they are assigned to with leisure.

For more information on opportunities available through the Peace Corps visit peacecorps.gov or email Rebecca Morrison at rmorrison@peacecoprs.gov.

Email Verones at:

vpadilla@live.esu.edu