2011 graduates continue tradition of service overseas in Peace Corps

Each year, thousands of graduates fill out applications to volunteer overseas in a 50-year-old program.

The Peace Corps has evolved to serve 139 countries since its establishment on March 1, 1961.

Although it is a competitive process, many IU graduates have served or are currently serving in the Peace Corps.

Laura Fonseca, IU’s Peace Corps recruiter, visited campus recently to spread awareness about the Peace Corps and how to become involved after graduation. 

Fonseca graduated from IU with a degree in international studies in 2007. While at school, she began a student-funded group called Global Understanding Through Student Travel. She served in Ukraine.

“If you have a passion for helping people and a desire to experience something new, then Peace Corps gives you the opportunity to serve a community overseas, share your skills locally, travel and all the while you have the support of a well-known and respected organization,” Fonseca said.

Another IU alumna, Sarah Epplin, graduated in May 2011. Epplin double majored in English and political science. Epplin wanted to see what it would be like to help a new community. She said she also wants to disprove negative American stereotypes abroad.

She will teach students in Rwanda as soon as her three-month training is finished.

“Rwanda is extremely safe,” Epplin said in an email interview. “There have only been a handful of times when I have felt uncomfortable, and so I left the situation. It is illegal to talk about Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. In private, some Rwandans will tell you their story, but only if they trust you. The spirit of Rwanda is now pretty high.”

Carly Jerome, another 2011 IU graduate, is working in a village school in Macedonia. She double majored in Spanish and telecommunications with a minor in digital art. She knew she wanted to join the Peace Corps since her senior year of high school, she said.

“I think being in the Peace Corps is a huge honor,” Jerome said in an email.