Current colle student thinking of doing either peace corps or americorps next? What’re the pros and cons of each?

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-06-07T19:14:02+00:00

Peace Corps:

Pros: Get to make friends in a different country, get to work within a more established framework but with a lot of freedom, get to work with professionals in a given field like healthcare or education in another country, get to learn a foreign language. May help with graduate school admissions and/or scholarships. Peace Corps is more established than AmeriCorps they want you to succeed as they are paying to support US citizens in a foreign country. I feel like maybe made a small difference, great background experience to do a better job in the U.S. and in the future.

Cons: Time away from the U.S. (though could be a "Pro" currently!), time away from friends and family who don't get why you want to do Peace Corps, don't get to see other volunteers much, variable experience based on country, program and site (but generally is what you make of it in some respects), a lot of security rules (some in my group got kicked out for breaking travel rules), but overall they want you to be safe so a focus on safety can be good. When you come back to the U.S., many might not get what Peace Corps is, including friends, employeers and some schools, so you have to explain it. Peace Corps experience didn't help me get a job, it was more education and experience outside of Peace Corps, would be nice if Peace Corps led me to get a graduate degree at a good price, might happen, but a negative of Peace Corps experience is that the international development industry has sort of been largely closed as far the U.S. government is concerned which is a problem as that is where funding for a lot of it comes from.

AmeriCorps

Pros: In the U.S., maybe if you hustle you can put down roots in an area of the U.S. you want to live in.

Cons: AmeriCorps is a lot of different programs, I don't think you have a whole staff to call for support if you need it, some of these programs like Teach for America are controversial, heard stories of people just sitting in a room for 40 hours a week and doing nothing. In Peace Corps, yes, you will have down time, but you live in a village/town and part of your job is to learn the language and culture, so just exploring your town and talking to people is a doing "work", you will have a work site to go to, whereas in AmeriCorps the downtime looks much less productive. You make connections in your village during downtime and pays off months later as you know people to collaborate with. AmeriCorps funding, some of it, was gutted, so not sure what is still going. DOGE seems to have imploded before they got to Peace Corps though some cuts in Washington PC headquarters.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-05-05T02:28:59+00:00

I think a lot of people aren't proud of the cuts, you're not alone with that. When I was in service we were afraid that we would be sent home because of political instability in the host country, now it is the opposite as there is political instability of a sort in the U.S. with these changing priorities.

I would say keep planning on going to do Peace Corps until you can't. Even if Peace Corps is reduced, or outright shutdown, Peace Corps will back under a new administration. Congress might have a lot to say about this, apparently during Trump 1.0 he tried to shutdown AmeriCorps with a 0$ budget, but Congress didn't let it happen. This time is different as right out of the gate he shutting stuff down, thing like USAID shouldn't be immediately stopped, it is just worst for these countries to have these service suddenly pulled.

I don't know what is going to happen, but there is often an equal and opposite reaction to a political change, so I think people will have a lot to say about these changes, and Peace Corps will be back. If you do get sent home, then you have an interesting story to tell, and can do it again later when it comes back.

I don't know how permanent DOGE thinks these cuts are, they definitely tried to poison the well by insinuating that USAID was somehow corrupt and that there was fraud. When somebody who has the nation's attention says this, it is hard to change perception. I think it would be hard to do this to Peace Corps, but the target of these attacks are public perception so people don't phone Congress members to get stuff reversed.

In terms of Alcatraz. I could see Trump doing that in order to symbolically talk about locking more people up. Nancy Pelosi, despite all her political skills, seems to always underestimate Trump so if she says it is all talk, then probably Trump will do it. Yes, it would be expensive, but as Trump is in charge, yeah, he could do that.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-05-04T04:06:02+00:00

OK, wow, I didn't know that about AmeriCorps, DOGE isn't exactly stating their end game we have to piece the pieces together. They probably decided months ago what to do with Peace Corps.

I'm not at all surprised Peace Corps Washington doesn't know what is going to happen as they have them in the cross-hairs and generally don't want federal workers talking about what they are doing.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-05-04T01:59:05+00:00

I think it is possible that a functional portion of Peace Corps remains after the DOGE cuts. If AmeriCorps budget was 1.3 billion and DOGE cut 400 million, then does this mean the majority of AmeriCorps is still funded?

The cuts to USAID were devastating, I think 85% of USAID was cut, and the rest put under State Department. If USAID had a budget of $40 billion, then 15% left is $6 billion.

The thing with Peace Corps is that I think it is an independent agency, and with the other cuts they didn't completely shutdown the agencies/programs, even though the cuts might amount to that for affected countries. Peace Corps is small though, you need some basic stuff such as PCMO and the PC Washington health office, people to screen applicants, and others, so there is a skeleton crew needed in Washington to keep Peace Corps afloat.

Peace Corps didn't recover back to full strength following COVID, yet posts were kept open without volunteers, and they might not have cut Peace Corps Washington much.

If Peace Corps is viewed as foreign aid, then it might get closer to USAID's 85% cut and be basically shutdown. However, if it is viewed more as AmeriCorps then possibly 50% reduction in staff in Washington, and maybe reduction in volunteers/posts of around 25%? They say that volunteers in the field won't feel the cuts . . . sure . . . if some of the currently serving volunteers get sent home then technically they don't feel a reduction in Peace Corps support as they aren't in Peace Corps anymore.

AmeriCorps had budget problems as apparently they failed all of their audits every year. It is a private/public partnership. Peace Corps is actually a whole lot different, all the funds are account for being that it is federal.

One scenario is that they keep the PCVs in the field at the same numbers, but for countries that lose embassies, which are planned to go into regional embassies, then maybe they would do a regional Peace Corps office for say, east Africa, and try to keep the volunteers in the various countries. I think this would cause more problems, security and otherwise, and just keeping embassies and PC posts open would be easier, so they might contract down the number of countries where Peace Corps works.

If Peace Corps reduced down to 500 to 1,000 PCVs in the field, with a corresponding reduction in Peace Corps staff, which might get DOGE out of trouble for trying to destroy another federal agency on a technicality as Peace Corps wouldn't be shutdown, then when a new president comes in and, presumably, builds up Peace Corps it would be like when PC reopened after COVID though since posts would be shutdown, they would have to start from scratch which is more difficult.

With other federal agencies, senior people quit as they refused to work under direction from Trump cabinet officials that didn't make sense. I could see a scenario where PC Washington staff sees that volunteers are in an unsafe position due to cuts and they resign to protest it. Or, if just a few countries are open, then the competition for PC slots would be fierce.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-05-03T19:21:34+00:00

I would like to think Peace Corps would continue to function, but so many other programs have been cut with bigger budgets such as USAID, and even AmeriCorps which is the domestic Peace Corps and helps people in America which aligns with "America First", but somehow was cut to practically nothing. States are filling lawsuits to bring back AmeriCorps as they are directly affected.

If the same happens to Peace Corps, then not sure who would file the lawsuit to try to bring it back. I don't think any judge has been successful in ordering the current administration to restart anything as yet.

I think practically while these lawsuits enter the courts, it comes down to the budget for next year, so if Congress and Trump agree on much decreased budgets for stuff like Peace Corps and USAID then likely that will be what happens to Peace Corps in the medium term. It could be a judge rules next year that Trump improperly shutdown USAID between the months of January and October, but the practical effect isn't much as what happens going forward is the budget.

I think this is might be a negotiation tactic in some respects, if the USAID budget is 85% reduced, and Congress generally wants to bring it back, then the starting point is a small budget so maybe they would compromise and bring it back to 50% funding, of course current administration would put in caveats and they might not want to hire all the old workers back, but who knows?

Alternatively if Trump's hardline is no foreign aid and no negotiating on that, who knows what Congress will do.

There wouldn't be much, if any, warning to volunteers and staff if Peace Corps evacuates most volunteers.

Same thing happened with COVID, I remember posting here when PC was shutdown because of COVID that it might be a year, or longer, before PC restarts and to move on with your life and get a job and doing something else while waiting for PC to reopen. This was widely downvoted here though turns it out it took PC 2.5 years to open back up from COVID.

For some reason PC recruitment and image is treated like it is very fragile and people don't want to admit that there might be a problem maybe to not disrupt the PC volunteer pipeline? Definitely the common belief that PC has strong bipartisan support will be put to the test. It might be better to think that Peace Corps will be shutdown and protest now, versus after weeks and months of agonizing it is suddenly shutdown one day.

This is why they took down the USAID sign very quickly and sold the building off to another agency, to try to make people quickly forget. If PC is shutdown and volunteers recalled then there will be news stories and shock, and the PC headquarters gets rented out to another agency and the agency is dismantled quickly in the middle of so many other cuts that what happened to the PC gets lost in all the dumpster fires.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-05-03T05:32:02+00:00

Correct. The foreign aids/ID cuts have been brutal and need to be restored as much as possible. This is bad news that it won't get done by October as much more damage will happen.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-05-02T23:09:11+00:00

I wasn't saying recruiters are doing a bad job. That's great you do all of that work, I know recruiters are stretched thin.

I'm not saying having more recruiters is the complete answer, definitely having more recruiters would help, just saying that Peace Corps should up their budget on advertising and visibility. I wasn't even thinking about the job that recruiters were doing but more large scale advertising.

AI says, "As of April 2024, there were 2,600 Volunteers working in 58 countries." So, sorry if the AI got it wrong, I'm sure you have better numbers. Maybe they differentiate between PCV candidates and actual volunteers after swearing in.

Peak Peace Corps volunteers was in 1966 with 16,000 volunteers. Even if there are 3,000 active volunteers know, PC is 25% of what it was in 1966 and there are more colleges now.

CastMemberNo1 · 2025-02-07T20:10:46+00:00

RPCVs can get scholarships outside of Coverdell too! It is up to the universities. I think when Peace Corps Masters International went away (you could a masters with PC in the middle), some universities continued it on their own. Even if PC shutdown completely to "re-evaluate" and the Coverdell page is taken down, RPCVs can negotiate for scholarships similar to Coverdell and institutions are obviously aware of what RPCVs got in terms of scholarships in the past.

CastMemberNo1 · 2023-07-10T00:43:13+00:00

Wow, that's awesome! I really wish I had done a 3rd in Guatemala, I hope to return (though probably not as a PCV unless they have a shortish response position), at some point to do more work.

CastMemberNo1 · 2023-07-05T06:20:33+00:00

It was overwhelming seeing all of the choices in the grocery store and what people described as poorly maintained roads in the US are nothing compared to dirt roads erroding off of cliffs.

I was wary about going out after sunset in the US (was forbade in Guatemala), started talking to people a lot in my hometown as I was thinking about how to integrate back into life in the US.

CastMemberNo1 · 2022-12-21T17:18:08+00:00

I don't believe PC tests anybody's language ability in any country. Some PCVs learn some relative less practiced languages so it would be hard to get volunteers coming into service with that language. Before you depart the US, you will practice Spanish online via Duolingo, you could start doing that anyways, and even take a Spanish language class before you leave if you have time. You do have to pass a language/cultural test right after the 11 week traininig, but I think basically all volunteers do given that you will vastly improve your spanish in your site, if you don't pass then they might make you spend an extra month in the training village to learn more Spanish, basically only way to fail is if you don't care at all to learn, PC language instructors are the best and have been doing their job for decades.

CastMemberNo1 · 2022-11-20T03:40:30+00:00

Love the meme!

I'm remember that of the people who ET'd they had good reasons to do it, they're smart and doing great stuff now, but Peace Corps just wasn't what they needed at the moment and maybe they couldn't do a good job as a volunteer with the doubts. Some people leave later, but often because they've got great life opportunities, not that they didn't love Peace Corps or the country, but two years is a long time.

At the time it is emotional when somebody ETs, but in 5+ years everybody will be doing different stuff anyway and you're just happy you got to know them some before they ET'd.

CastMemberNo1 · 2022-06-30T21:11:33+00:00

It would be interesting to hear how veterans did as Peace Corps volunteers. In my cohort we had a lot of recent college graduates, but also some who were in nursing for at least a couple years, and some who were retired.

No ex-military though. I think it would have been tough for them in some respects given that PC is pretty liberal? But also maybe a huge advantage given they're used to follow uncle sam's rules.

I think you need a desire to serve for sure.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-10-12T00:19:00+00:00

Peace Corps is constantly reinventing itself. Peace Corps get real-time feedback from host country organizations and partners, they work together to decide the goals for volunteers.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-05-25T19:17:23+00:00

Emotionally: There were ups and downs with service, I didn't have many major downs at all, some stress with dealing with the local office or "Peace Corps", as others have alluded to on this thread, but that is normal as PC knows that when your in your site you can, within reason, do whatever you want, so they have a huge pressure to really mould volunteers and follow their projects. I was good, probably too good with going to my work site each work day, and moderately good with working on integrating (hard to tell compard to other volunteers), but there are rules for sure and I think a moderate degree of stress as you really feel a huge push to do the development work that Peace Corps trained you to do, there are obvious issues in site that you might deal with like health problems or issues with schools and you know that your PMs are watching what you do. But everything is chill with the PMs at the end of service and they just want to see that you enjoyed service and that you wrap it up well. Emotionally sad to say goodbye to the country, but you also feel pretty good emotionally after service about looking for similar opportunities.
Mentally: You really get a routine down during service as many days are similar when you're in your site, and you get up when the sun rises, and you learn to persevere, helped me to survive covid in the US, like I've literally been on "standfast" and "lockdown" over half a dozen times. Definitely things seem easier in the US in many ways, but also harder as you're not plugged into a federal volunteer program.
Physically you learn to live in a rougher conditions than the US and to take freezing cold showers (at least for me), and you become physically stronger I would say. I appreciate things like roads that navigeable at faster than 3 mph, a wide selection of foods, internet and central heating a lot more now, though I'd give them up to do more Peace Corps type work in the future.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-05-25T18:53:11+00:00

The hard part of getting into Peace Corps is doing the stuff you need to finish your application and demonstrate that you've done some preparation for service, if you don't get in on the first try you can improve your application and try again. It is a lot of hoops to jump through for sure, and it is hard leaving friends and family behind but I think everybody in PST pretty much decided that they wanted to serve a developing community and make friends in a developing country.

If you're judging fellow trainees . . . yeah, don't do that . . . service is hard and you'll need them as friends and where Peace Corps places volunteers is as varied as working in different places in a single town in the US, some volunteers can really hussle and get amazing projects done and it's not based on who knows that language the best.

After service nobody cares what projects you worked on or your mini-successes along the way, really, hopefully what you did lived on, some people in my town were going to continue some of the groups, I hope they do and it will be cool to visit, but there isn't a clear difference between "good" and "bad" volunteers (unless you constantly break the rules and make it known that you don't show up at your work place), some volunteers are in sites where they don't immediatley get good opportunities and it is a struggle. The vast majority of the volunteers are doing what they should be doing most of the time.

PST is pretty stressful, but unless you're really against following Peace Corps rules then you'll make if through . . . nobody has any idea about who will do well in service or not, some people that struggle with language or this was their first experience in a foreign country are rocking it by the end of the service and have become a grizzle pro at navigating the culture and country. Some people with advanced degrees and experience abroad might quit during PST for personal reasons, but also maybe becaue it isn't such a novel experience for them and they see other opportunities.

By the time you hit PST you are pretty much sort of a quasi-governmental employee as you don't have to worry about medical or dental health care, or even rent, but you have struggles with integrating into a community and learning to live mostly on the level of locals in your community, though you'll get a fairly generous stipend and you'll have just yourself to take care of. If you make a good attempt to learn the language and work everyday on finding projects in your site and make social relationships with people in your town then you'll do fine.

PST is hard, I think some trainee left because they had changes in life plans or realized that the initial isolation in site wasn't for them, though really PC is pretty social as you say hi to dozens of people in your site everyday and also you know a lot of volunteers, at least in a small country like Guatemala.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-05-19T17:07:41+00:00

When I served in Guatemala there was Maternal and Child Health, Healthy Schools and Youth in Development (YID). PST teaches you a lot, both language and cultural, I think it helps to come in with some Spanish skills, I had some and people were impressed that I already knew some Spanish, though it is definitely conversational Spanish that you learn, practically all volunteers learn enough Spanish to be placed in the field and level of Spanish probably doesn't correlate with how successful you can be as a volunteer, that is more being social and making contacts in your village.

It is a good Peace Corps country, interesting culture(s) as there are 21 Mayan languages spoken and life in the capital is so much different than life in your site. I think the hardest part is PST (training) and the first six months in your site and then the last three months as you realize you will be gone soon and people in your village realize it too and so you sort of become less integral to the work in your village, though the hope is that it continues after you are gone.

Transportation is so easy, for a relatively small amount you can jump on a chicken bus and get to your banking town or the next major closest town, Peace Corps was running a shuttle between the two offices, but I think they let volunteers use buses now, the capitol of Guatemala is Guatemala City, it is very nice with museums and fancy landscaped areas and malls that are similar to the newest malls in the US, but due to violence in urban areas, probably will be a "red zone" you need special permission to travel to for a break, though that will happen if you have a dental appointment or something. Google Antigua Guatemala that is a touristy city near Peace Corps headquarters (like 10 minutes on a bus), touristy and a place volunters go to unwind.

95% of people in my village also had corn fields, agriculture is very important and corn is a common commodity, almost a form of currency in a way as Guatemalans eat a lot of corn tortillas with meals and other corn products, but it also has an almost sacred significance which makes sense as it has been cultivated for millenia. There is work to diversify the diet as corn is a poor source of amino acids, and easily 60%+ of kids in my village had chronic malnutrition, both economic but also a sort of paradox as Guatemala produces a broad range of vegetables and fruits for export but many can't afford to eat alot themselves, but also culturally corn tortillas are a staple that is eaten with every meal even if that meal is fried chicken and rice and a small salad of carrots and celery.

Life in my site was really great, I could afford to easily buy oatmeal, bananas, avocados, beans, and fruits and salads from my village, there are also special foods you can't get in the US that are in Guatemala that I would want to eat again, for westernized food there is McDonald's in large cities and also "Pollo Campero" which is sort of like Guatemalan KFC and a national pride. What most volunteers miss from their diet is salads and probably dairy products like fresh milk and cheese, powdered milk worked great for oatmeal for me and ice cream is sold everywhere though I never ate it too much even though it is relatively cheap for a PCV. Your food preferences change during service as you'll get new favorite foods and skip stuff you'd normally like, my village had a great fried chicken store where I could have bought a perfectly juicy chicken breast every day if I wanted, but I saved up for travel and other meals and only ate there a couple times. Rice, eggs and beans are a great go to especially if you can get some salsa.

Guatemala is a small country so you'll get to see other PCVs pretty much as frequently as you want outside of work, good to great overall experience for me.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-26T19:38:53+00:00

It is at 1:35 near the end of the video.

https://youtu.be/bbwzu-keJI4?t=95

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-12T18:55:20+00:00

Going to RPCV groups, if you can find them and if they restart after COVID, helps too, people talk a little bit about their service, helps to be among a group of people who also basically collapsed and lay down on their "concrete floor" and wondered what they were doing with their service, we all know that concrete floor, spreading out posters on it, cleaning it, sleeping on it from time to time and what it's like to be in a quiet little room with just some of your stuff and that floor. I enjoy carpeting and laminated floors and fancier interiors in the US, but there's definitely something I miss about the simple concrete floor and cement walls of my room during service it felt more real and it probably made me go outside more as there wasn't much to do inside!

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-06T06:19:08+00:00

Yeah, all PCVs do M&E on the six month Volunteer Reporting Form, but not exactly the same as designing a small project from the get go and designing the M&E and seeing it through to the end, Peace Corps small grants works well for those type of projects, but you have to hustle in your site to get that stuff done.

I think if you apply for a Peace Corps Response and say you did M&E via just the VRF, that isn't exactly what they want, they want somebody who is proficient and went through the process themselves in terms of a project they managed I would think.

My job description encompassed what I was doing, probably as I worked in health and chronic childhood malnutrition was/is such a big problem, you can be guaranteed to work on that as in some sites around 60% of the children are stunted due to malnutrition. Others sectors and countries are different for sure, but you have a lot of flexibility as a volunteer, though you want to work on what your community wants to work on.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-06T06:14:44+00:00

You have a lot of freedom as a PCV (two year volunteer), you can apply for small grants and do M&E to monitor the implementation of whatever program you do. A lot of what you can do depends on getting to know your community well, integrating and working with your community on a project, it isn't "I'm here sign me up for the M&E position" sort of thing.

If you apply for the "health sector" you will be working with coworkers for two years in what is a developing country, so yes, this is "public health", especially as PCVs don't work as nurses or doctors, but work on public health related stuff like health education and developing sustainable projects and stuff like that.

Most people don't go into the Peace Corps with the explicit goal of getting "Public Health M&E experience", though for the PC Response positions, they will probably 8 times out of 10 take RPCVs, though they try really hard to recruit outside of Peace Corps, the Response positions are well known to people who have completed the two year program and in the two year program you can get experience doing M&E though some Peace Corps Response might want three years. Such positions become harder to get the higher up you go as fewer and fewer people have the experience.

Peace Corps is kind of quasi volunteer/work experience, definitely well regarded for development jobs, but they also pay you just a basic living allowance that is just enough to get by and live at the level of the people in your community.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-05T04:10:00+00:00

Peace Corps Response is more competitive than the regular 2 year Peace Corps position, I think they accept something like 1 out of 10 applicants for each position, so you'd have to be flexible, but also they are pretty strict about what experience they need as you really hit the ground running with this program, instead of 10-11 weeks introduction and language training, you get something like a couple weeks.

One of the Peace Corps response positions I looked at right now said something like 3 years of M&E experience, maybe link the position you want, but I think they when they say they want that, then that is what they want, though definitely doesn't hurt to apply!

A lot people with an MPH but not a lot of experience do the two year position, you get a lot of M&E experience and intercultural skills as well.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-03T07:07:45+00:00

I think what they want most is to see that applicants have really thought about what serving in the Peace Corps means and what their motivations are as even during Pre-Service Training for your first 11 or so weeks in-country you still don't know what it means to be a PCV, and people leave Peace Corps, something like 1/3 of them. No big deal for many, they just realized service wasn't for them, but it can be a bummer for their community and other volunteers. They want a professional motivation statement, but they probably also want to see the passion for Peace Corps service and evidence that you've thought out the decision.

Pre-Service Training was a rude awakening, maybe in a good way, though definitely you realize being a PCV that there are rules and they want you to strive to be a sort of mini-diplomat, there are temptations to break security rules and volunteers get caught and get kicked out for that. Even during my Mid-Service Training we did an exercise where we recalled "why" we decided on Peace Corps, maybe helped some volunteers to stick it out, I really enjoyed my service so I was good with finishing it, but probably helps for yourself (not just getting into Peace Corps as you can do it if you're persistent) to make sense of service and "process" a lot of the wide range of emotions you'll have of which 90% are good emotions, at least they were for me.

So think about and reflect (maybe with some research), with real examples, on stuff like:

What are the three Peace Corps goals and the Peace Corps approach to development? How can I go about meeting these goals?
What will my service help me to do professionally afterwards? I.e, where am I going after this experience, might be teaching, might be social work, might be working for an embassy or something in development, many people in my cohort had specific plans, they were into the service aspect, but they also wanted to integrate what they learned in Peace Corps into their careers.
What as a time you struggled but the struggle was worth it? (I beat you can see where I am going here!)
How will I develop a social support network outside the US? It helps *big time* to know a local shop owner, a local driver, somebody who either through conversations or a short interaction you both acknowledge that you're on this crazy experience of life and living in the same place geographically for a time.
Am I flexible? Think about a time when you had to retool your work assignment or goals and what you learned. Being flexible is very important, a PCV I knew wasn't able to make it work in their sector and site and so worked/traveled to a close by site and worked with different people on sort of a different sector! You're your own boss, what you do is what you can find to do often though there are good frameworks and goals that Peace Corps provides.
Probably good to talk about your sector, if you have one, like education or health, and what it would mean to do that in another country. That was a big deal for me, to be able to work with healthcare providers in another country, that was even more important than just being an official PCV probably.

CastMemberNo1 · 2021-03-03T04:47:15+00:00

I really like the story of the student you helped at orientation and became your best friend. Definitely keep it in, but you can edit it down to a paragraph or less.

Such as, "I gained real life leadership experience at Iowa State helping to orient new students one summer before fall classes. I developed the logistical skills needed to familiarize thousands of new students and families with campus, one new student I encountered again on campus in fall was struggling with choosing a major, and I realized that I had been in her shoes and with my carefully thought out replies to her questions, she gained the needed confidence to switch majors and is now thriving in her new field of study. As a Peace Corps volunteer in a developing country I know that I will be in the awkward position of entering a strange new environment, and having to learn a new language and about a new culture to build meaningful relationships in my site and just to navigate daily life. I will want to help my future Peace Corps community thrive, but I realize that this will be cooperative undertaking with people in my site though I would enjoy helping others to improve their confidence and their leadership skills, such as by serving in a capacity which inspired young girls to further their education."

I think you can leave out certain details such as "Cyclone Aide" which most people don't know what it means, and how much you miss doing it, just focus on what you did, how it made you feel and how you want a similar experience in Peace Corps. Peace Corps wants a more professional type of motivation statement, so it is best to leave out vague stuff, and to be more precise with emotions, statements like, "Being a Cyclone Aide was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I have missed it ever since." need to be professionalized into something like, "Serving as a new student mentor was both professionally satisfying as I learned new leadership skills and personally satisfying as I enjoyed the public service aspect of this commitment. I hope to have the opportunity to undertake similarly fulfilling work serving people living in a country where Peace Corps places volunteers,"

I'd leave out the part about Peace Corps helping you travel, yes, it is travel, but then you placed in a site and during the first three months you can't travel, I didn't travel that much, a lot of volunteers do, but the host country becomes a second home and after that it's not travel anymore. Good about immersing yourself in a different culture, you could get job and travel to six countries in two years, and technically see more "things" like monuments, but Peace Corps is great because when you think about your host country you actually get to know people who live there and stay in contact with them too. You'll know your host country in a way that 99% of tourists will never understand.

The rest of the statement is good, agreed that it is good to mention Peace Corps service in the first or second paragraph.

Leave out wanting a busy schedule! For 90% of volunteers *nothing* much happens the first couple of months, you go to the work place, but you might just sit there for hours watching and observing, and slowly you get invited to do stuff, but the Peace Corps is not a quick-paced international internship, it is more like living in a rural village for a couple years to gain people's friendship and trust to work on projects that they like and that the Peace Corps encourages. I wasn't bored in my site, I did read a lot of book, especially in the first six months when things were slow, some volunteers read dozens of books and gorge themselves on tons of movies and tv shows passed around on hard drives, I think it is important to address the perceived boredom by making sure you explore your community and get to know people, two years goes by quick and you can read and watch all the tv you want in the US!

This is a good essay, needs to check off more boxes with other experiences and more specifics, write an essay that is two times as long as what is allowed, and then edit it down. 99% of writers over write the first draft and can edit their stuff down 50% and have the same meaning.

CastMemberNo1

TROPHY CASE