PEACE

            Everyone has been concerned in the past and recently about the possibility of a draft. It is nice to hear about a government related task force that is not necessarily concerned with terrorism and war efforts, but one that is for the better health and well being of a group of people. This is what the Peace Corp’s website is all about. At first, I thought it was just something hippies did and someone in my major (agriculture) would never even imagine doing. The whole sustainability is something most agriculturists are against because of how much more effective conventional farming is, and the peace corps promotes a lot of sustainable farming in foreign countries.

            The Peace Corps promotes a lot in college; they know that students want to get out and explore the world. This is a very cost effective way to learn a language and travel to one of many extremely diverse places throughout the world. You start off by filing out an application six months to a whole year before the actual date you’d leave. A downside is that you do not necessarily get to pick where you go. Things that can help this include proficiency in a foreign language and certain majors. An agriculture major would help you go to a country that needed help agriculturally, like rural China or rural Africa or South America.

            There are other benefits according to the Peace Corp’s website besides staying in a foreign country. You learn valuable aspects that help you later in life. If your prospective boss happens to be a Peace Corps “alumni” then you would have a better chance of getting hired. You also are given a monthly stipend to live on. It is nothing extreme but more than enough to get by like the villagers or slightly better than them. You get almost two months of vacation days that you can save up and travel around the world on the government’s dollar. You also get a sum of money when you return to America. This helps one get situated back to American life. I believe that the Peace Corps are an effective way to get experience working in a foreign country.