I'm thinking of joining the Peace Corps..?

Question

I'd like to join the Peace Corp. someday. I've done a bit of reading on it and I'm planning on speaking with a teacher I use to have who was in it, but I'd like to know more about it from others who have had experience. If you've volunteered or know someone who has, could you tell me about your/their experiences?

Also, their website says I need either a four year degree or work experience in a particular field. I was planning to go before college to I could have more time to decide what I wanted to go for, but I'm not sure what sort of job I could get. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I'm glad you've done research on this and plan to go to college. You'd be surprised at the amount of people I've seen who don't do any research--thinking its a great trip or they could just do it for a month--or want to do it straight out of high school without any experience or concrete knowledge in one specific field.

I can't tell you what to major in, but major in something that interests you. I majored in History, and had minors in International Studies and East Asian Studies--none of which are particularly helpful to the PC, but they still seemed to accept me. I had volunteer work at day cares and day camps as well as some volunteer work at a women's shelter.  So you can still major in anything you want, but just make sure you volunteer a lot in h.s. and college--no matter the major. Volunteer things of particular use are health, youth, education, and community help oriented....or even something like habitat for humanity.

If you want to major in something that will also be useful for the PC...I'd look into something like health (nursing), education (specifically math, science, english/languages....but any education degree in general would be of great help)....even something like IT, business, botany, or bio could be helpful.

Since you've been researching, I've sure you've seen on peacecorps.gov the specific work areas. I'd look at that and see which most interests you and either (or both) plan your major/minor and/or volunteer work around that. Also...if you are particularly interested in Latin America, I would major or minor in Spanish (they almost ONLY send volunteers to latin america who have studied spanish--since so many people study it they can be a little pickier). If you are particularly interested in africa or french speaking africa--study french in college, at least for your  2 year language req. Since fewer people study French now, almost anyone who studies french can get nominated for French speaking Africa. There are also a few places that speak Portuguese in Africa...as well as places that speak Russian.  However, just because you learn a language is no gaurentee--one guy who majored in Spanish got placed in Thailand! He loved it too.

I am still waiting on my invitation, but a good friend of mine is serving for the PC in Macedonia right now. She has been there since Sept '07. She loves the PC, the country, the people, her work (teaching english) but she says there are definitely some hard times. But she has always said its worth it and the good out weighs the bad.  

You may want to check out http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com There is a list of regions (each PC region)--you pick a country and it guves you a big list of current and past blogs of Peace Corps volunteers. My blog is http://www.jcorps.blogspot.com and altho I'm stll at the end of the application process I have some good links about the PC and have some really good PCVolunteer blogs linked on there.  A piece of advice when reading the blogs, go back to the beginning of the archives and look for where their application process started or at least where they start talking about it. I don't know how many people do it, but by reading about the application process, you learn a lot about what you are going to have to do--all the hard work, tons of waiting, and emotions you'll go through. The application process can be very hard and long, luckily I was blessed with a quick one (just a few months). It is all worth it in the end though.

So keep doing what you are doing, you seem on the right track! Keep researching (check out the links on my page), definitely talk to your teacher since there is no better resource than someone who has done the PC, and definitely head to college and volunteer to get experience. I wish you the best of luck, the PC isn't for everyone, but it seems like you are interested and doing all the right stuff to learn about it and prepare. I wish you the best of luck!

Jenna

Youth Development nominee for Central/South America in August '08

http://www.jcorps.blogspot.com

Answer 2

Jean said it all. I search Y!A for "Peace Corps" every couple of days.  I wrote more than I want to paste here about what it was like for me (Sarawak, 1971 - 1972) on

http://www.tedpack.org/pchead.html

I also have some answers to questions about the Peace Corps that come up here on Y!A over and over again. My daughter is a volunteer now, so not all of my knowledge is dated.

92% of all PCVs have a college degree. The rest have 10 -50 years of experience. The only 18-year olds they take have worked on their family farm for 10 years and have stellar records of leadership in 4-H or FFA. Farming is about the only field you can get enough experience in by the time you are 18 to qualify as a PCV.

Answer 3

It might be hard to get into the Peace Corps before you go to college.  The ONLY TWO requirements to be in the Peace Corps are eighteen years of age and an American citizen.  The reason they ask for a degree or work experience is because you need some sort of skill set that you can rely on when teaching and working in a new culture.  You need to be able to offer the local people something.  The Peace Corps does offer pre-service training, but it's more to prepare you for your new working conditions and living environment.

Joining the Peace Corps changed my life forever, in a positive way.  I always think about Micronesia -- the place I served -- and how much I miss my host family and friends.

It was hard living on a small island, don't get me wrong.  Sometimes I felt like I was going crazy.  There wasn't much to do and nowhere to go.   I communicated with everyone back home by mail.  One of the most important things I learned was how to pass the time.  I worked for only a few hours a day, but I was a volunteer for twenty-four hours a day.  The hard part isn't going to be your work, but adjusting.

But I loved being intimately involved in the culture.  I loved learning new skills and being extremely challenged.  You'll live with a host family, so you'll be right in the middle of things.  I learned a very rare language, so it brings me joy to be a part of something so unique.

The most important thing is to really get involved, and remember that they have at least as much to teach you as you do them.