The Peace Corps has been providing a way for volunteers to fully immerse themselves in the culture of another country since its establishment in 1961.
The mission of the organization has remained the same for 56 years — to promote world peace and friendship. Alben Phung, a former Cal State Long Beach graduate, is now bringing this goal closer to the CSULB campus.
Phung served two years in the Peace Corps while working in Ethiopia as an agriculture and environment developer. He now works as a Peace Corps recruiter with the Center for International Education on campus. His office is located in the Career Development
Center, where students can ask questions and get a better understanding on what the Peace Corps is looking for in its applicants.
Information sessions and application workshops are also being offered for students to help clear up some of the common questions and concerns surrounding the organization.
Caterina Araiza, a senior international studies major at CSULB, had expressed interest in joining the Peace Corps at one point in her life. Araiza says that although it seems like an amazing experience, the timing to join would not be right at this point.
“Where I am in my life, I’ve already done my exploration and I’m ready to move on to a career,” Araiza said. “If I was in my early 20s and still figuring things out, it sounds like a great opportunity to travel and see a part of the world that you normally wouldn’t.”
Timing is everything when it comes to making a decision such as joining the Peace Corps. The organization requires a two-year commitment from its volunteers, who receive benefits after their service is complete. These benefits include a readjustment allowance of $8,000 upon return, reduced tuition for graduate school, professional skills such as learning a language that can be applied to future jobs and more.
Penelope Orellana, a sophomore Illustration major at CSULB, attended one of the information meetings on campus to get a better idea about what joining the Peace Corps entailed.
“I’ve been interested in the Peace Corps before but I didn’t know how to apply or what I had to do to get in,” Orellana said. “So, I came to the meeting to get more information.”
Orellana has a desire to travel and learn about different cultures. She sees the Peace Corps as a great opportunity to help people and after attending the meeting, sees it as something she might pursue in the future.
“I’m interested but I think I’m going to wait a little before going forward,” Orellana said. “Two years away is a little too much for me right now, but in the future I may be more open to it. Seeing the pictures and knowing that there’s a completely different culture with a different calendar and a different year they follow is really cool to me.”
Peace Corps at CSULB will be hosting other events throughout the month of March, one of them being an application workshop held today in the USU Building, room 303 from 4 – 5 p.m.
Another upcoming event is the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Panel Stories on March 9, which is one that Phung says students still on the fence about joining should attend.
The event will feature three returning Peace Corps volunteers who will speak about about their experiences serving in Costa Rica, the Philippines and Tanzania. Two of the speakers are alumni and one is an economics professor at CSULB.