Bad weather and excitement over the presidential election resulted in a small number of University of Memphis students visiting a Peace Corps information booth set up in the University Center Tuesday.
"The people that have been interested have been very passionate," said Jean Kern, regional recruiting officer for the Peace Corps.
Kern will be present in the University Center again today until 1:30 p.m. She will have information about what the Peace Corps does, whom it benefits and how to join.
For special education major Sara Palmer, joining an organization like the Peace Corps is something she would like to do. Still, there are things that hold her back.
"I have a cat and that is the biggest commitment I have made yet," Palmer said.
The two-year commitment the Peace Corps asks is not the only hesitation Palmer has. She said she would be concerned for her safety in some countries, and she worries that she does not have enough experience.
Teresa Dalle, an associate professor of English as a second language, said commitment could easily be a deterrent from joining, but safety should not be a big factor in the decision.
"The Peace Corps trains their volunteers very well and they don't put them in harms way," Dalle said. "It is all the fear of the unknown." She said the ESL department has women teaching all over the world, even in Kuwait.
"They put you through strict training because they want to know if you're going to adapt," Dalle said. "They like to detour anyone from going if they don't think you can."
Kern said she joined after she turned 50, and went to Cape Verde in West Africa. Although she had to learn fast, she found she was able to do it.
"There are things I call difficult gifts," Kern said. "When I got there I was dumped on them."
She said she moved around a lot because the people also felt she was dumped on them. Still, she was able to meet more people to help her because of it, and she came away with a fabulous experience.
She said she helped a Third World country start kindergartens. She said the women there identified as teachers were not trained, and none of them made it past her sophomore year in high school.
By the time she left, the teachers were able to do everything Kern taught them to do.
Tiffany Carter, who is working on a post-masters teaching program, said she thinks groups like the Peace Corps do a lot of a good for the people volunteering.
"They seem to help people find work, find themselves and become better citizens," Carter said.
She said she tried to join a group similar to Peace Corps before she went to graduate school, but because of technicalities, she was ineligible. Frank Bailey, a freshman advertising major, said he would rather do stuff here than go overseas.
"We have problems here we need to take care of," Bailey said.
He said that the commitment also bothers him, and he would have to be paid a lot of money to go away for that long.
Kern and Dalle both said that going overseas, learning another language and understanding another culture can help in getting good jobs once they return home.
"It's an opportunity to use a brand new degree in a middle management context," Kern said. "You are using every strength and talent you thought you ever had and then learning more."
To find out more about the Peace Corps, contact Kern at jkern@peacecorps.gov.
