The Peace Corps is looking for NC State students who are interested in international volunteer work, according to Karen Ives, the NC State Peace Corps recruiter. 

Students should be bright, diligent, and dedicated volunteers, she said. Ives volunteered with the Peace Corps in Mongolia from 2012–2014. 

“Peace Corps was a really good experience for me,” Ives said. “I think it can be a really good experience for students here at NC State.” 

Lucas Fautua, a junior studying political science and current president of the political science club believes that the Peace Corps is a beneficial option for NC State students. 

“The Peace Corps is a good transitional job for people who don’t know what they want to do immediately after college but still want an international background,” Fautua said. 

However, acceptance into the Peace Corps is extremely competitive. Only about 25 percent of applicants are accepted, according to Ives. 

“The exclusivity comes from the many benefits that the Peace Corps offers,” Ives said. “It is one of the few volunteer organizations that covers every cost a volunteer experiences during service from the cost of plane tickets to room and board.” 

A volunteer can defer their student loans until after their service is done. In addition, upon completion every volunteer who completes the total 27 months of service required receive a readjustment allowance of $8,000. This money is used in order to help the volunteer adjust back to life outside of the Peace Corps. 

For Ives however, there is one benefit of the Peace Corps that cannot be broken down into numbers. 

“Doing something really good for the world, giving back to the world in a really meaningful way- that’s the biggest benefit of Peace Corps,” she said. “You get up every day and see people benefiting from your service. There’s no other job that has that on the same scale that the Peace Corps does.” 

Not all colleges have a recruiter on campus, but NC State has had a Peace Corps recruiter on campus for many years, according to Ives. NC State’s student body size and the variety of disciplines that are offered are two of the main reasons NC State continues to have a Peace Corps recruiter. Furthermore, NC State has a diverse student body from which the Peace Corps can pull, she said. 

Other colleges in the area do not have a recruiter on campus, but Ives visits those campuses to distribute information about the Peace Corps. Shaw University, Peace and Meredith College, Campbell University and St. Augustine are among the other campuses she visits. 

“Some of the most needed areas within Peace Corps are agriculture, environment, and education, which are very strong here at State,” Ives said.

Hired to her position in mid-December 2014, Karen will continue to act as NC State’s Peace Corps recruiter until the end of spring semester. 

“As a Peace Corps Recruiter, I am in charge of getting the information out there about what Peace Corps is, what Peace Corps volunteers do and what the benefits of Peace Corps are,” Ives said. 

Besides going into classes and distributing information about the Peace Corps, Ives also holds information sessions about once a week. 

“The Peace Corps goal is to promote peace and friendship throughout the world by providing communities in need with technical expertise from the volunteers,” said Ives.

Volunteers can choose among eight different areas of the world to work in. They also have the option of working in agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health, or youth in development. 

The Peace Corps was established by an executive order from President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Since then, nearly 220,000 American have served in 140 countries around the world.