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Seeking adventure and immersion in a whole new culture, Peace Corps volunteers set out to impact the world. But what Peace Corps volunteers discover is that the people they serve end up changing them in ways never imagined.
Dedicating two years to service in a developing country, volunteers choose an area of specialization and set off on their missions. Intensely trained in the language and culture of their chosen areas for three months, participants then do service for two years in a foreign country. People who have joined say those experiences abroad shaped their futures.
“There were no drawbacks,” said Michael Anderson, a coordinator for physical education programs at Pepperdine. “It expanded my life and it’s what made me know I wanted to teach.”
Assigned to Northern Thailand, Anderson helped create links between Thai school districts and hospitals, bringing rudimentary health knowledge to elementary children. He educated about nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention and even correct hand washing.
Each night Anderson lived in a village, waking with the roosters’ crow and ending the day once the sun went down. All meals were authentic Thai cuisuines. Completely submerged in their culture, Anderson said he now knows that the Peace Corps integration was one of the best choices he ever made.
“The Peace Corps is not a relief group where you’re going to war torn countries,” he said. “They are about learning, interacting and experiencing people from another culture.”
Trying to share that understanding with students, Anderson now hosts an intense service-learning course held in Thailand each summer for Pepperdine students.
“You can’t get beyond being a tourist unless you have people to take you where tourists never get the chance to go,” he said.
Anderson said he hopes to be just that in a six-week course that lets participants feel what a Peace Corps experience is all about.
“It has come full circle,” he said. “Now I’m able to offer students a way to mirror my experience and share what I learned.”
The Thailand experience was a deciding factor in 2002 alumnus Jay Wilkes’ decision to join the Peace Corps. He currently awaits his departure for a project in Eastern Europe. Using this as a stepping stone, he said he plans to teach abroad after college.
“Coming from Los Angeles I have lived in a bubble my whole life,” he said. “After Thailand I saw how insignificant my world was compared to the whole world.”
With tuition rising and the post-graduation job market as competitive as ever, the Peace Corps is becoming an outlet for students concerned about their future. More than 50 colleges and universities offer tuition assistance and full scholarships to Peace Corp volunteers.
“Peace Corps puts you a step higher,” public affairs representative for the Peace Corps, Melody Akhavan, said “Volunteers have qualities employers are looking for, and in terms of government employment, volunteers are preferred over regular citizens without experience.”
Two years may seem like a long time to many, but returnees and recruits say it is the minimum time required in order to truly immerse oneself in another culture.
“Along with three months intensive training it takes about one year to adjust to the people and another minimum six months to be effective once you get on your project,” Akhavan said.
Representing America and all that it stands for, the Peace Corps tries to diversify groups that are sent into regions.
“My Peace Corps group was a cross-section of any group, anywhere. I wasn’t a group of hippies,” Anderson said. “Basically, it was a cross-section of society.”
Participants say they give the world an image of what the United States stands for and volunteers come back to share the outlook of a foreign culture. Realizations that people have similarities all over the world bind volunteers to the country they serve.
“We all want to be happy, to help our next-door neighbor,” Peace Corps recruiter Jason Rothbard said, reflecting on his experience in Africa. “The fact that I was American became less important than the fact that I was just another human being trying to help them.”
Rothbard now works as a recruiter while pursuing a master’s degree in international public administration at the University of Southern California.
He described his time in the Peace Corps as phenomenal and also notes the added compassion he now feels for those less fortunate. Fostering awareness, he encourages others to “see life in a way they never have.”
Recruits can see the Peace Corps as a way to escape, to create change or even a way to enhance their resumes. A total of 88 Pepperdine alumni have served in the organization.
As recruits sit and await their departure, others will reap the benefits of this organization — one that represents America in developing countries spanning the globe.
Submitted January 23, 2003
MALIBU, CA
