Thinking of joining the peace corps....?

Question

I am going to graduate Illinois state university with a four year degree in criminal justice this august. I would love to take 2 years of my life to serve the country. Also I want to be a firefighter, and will be getting paramedics later in life (probably when I get back). Anyway, what are your opinions and do you think I would qualify??? I do not care where I go and just want to help others. I am 22 years old, Caucasian male.

Answer 1

I can't speak from personal experience here, but my very best friend is a Peace Corps Volunteer and she loves it! She's an environmental science major and has been in Fiji for almost 2 years now. If this is something you're really passionate about, I would absolutely recommend at least looking ito it. Call the PC and ask them if someone with your degree could be of any use to them. Be prepared, if you are accepted, to have to jump through a few hoops with their rigorous medical check-ups and personal references and such. It can be a bi exhausting, but definitely worth it in the end.

Answer 2

Be very careful with the peace corp.  My friend Janet was a teacher with them and she starved along with her students in Africa because there just was no food to be had.  She says they just dump you off and you have to fend for yourself.

The work she did was great but she did suffer while serving with them.

Answer 3

what's you email? i can send you some articles written by a current peace corps volunteer

Answer 4

I would become a firefighter......................You are helping others that way(saving lives)..............

If you want to do even more...........volunteer at church or the nursing home.........

Answer 5

You don't get to decide to join the PeaceCorps -- you get to decide to apply and hope that your mix of academics and skills will make you the right candidate for membership (most applicants do NOT make the cut).

Go to the PeaceCorps web site (http://www.peacecorps.gov) for information on the application process and what types of people they are looking for. Also type in this phrase into Google to view essays about the PC in the members' own words:

PeaceCorps blogs

I've had two friends who have been in the PeaceCorps, and have met many others through my own work and traveling, and all loved it. Very tough, but hugely rewarding.

If you are unsure about whether or not you have the skills needed by the PeaceCorps, here is a web site that can help you learn more about the skills and experience desired by such long-term placement organizations, and how you can start to gain such experience locally, wherever you are right *now*:

http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volu...