Kiva Wilson '04 linked what she did while at Dartmouth to her motivation to apply to the Peace Corps in her talk. Wilson said she participated in a Tucker Foundation-sponsored program during Spring Break of her sophomore year at Dartmouth, during which she spent two weeks in a rural community in Nicaragua. Inspired by this experience, Wilson applied to the Peace Corps during her senior year, and began work in a rural town in El Salvador the following fall. Although Wilson said the two-year commitment was certainly daunting, it did not hold her back from the experience.
"If I can do four years in Hanover, New Hampshire, I can do two years anywhere else in the world," Wilson said.
While in El Salvador, Wilson, who now works as a diversity outreach specialist for the Peace Corps, said she created an organic community garden, because fresh produce was difficult to acquire in the area. Wilson said she came up with the idea from participating in organic farming throughout her years at Dartmouth.
Stacy Ritter Brown '91, another panelist, said that after participating in a Foreign Study Program in Kenya, she considered joining the Peace Corps after graduation, but instead went on to graduate school. But after moving to West Africa with her husband, she said she found her "dream job," working as the small enterprise development program manager for the Peace Corps in Mali.
Adam Shpeen '07, who is now a student Columbia University Law School, said he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa teaching at the local school, setting up HIV/AIDS drives and building a community garden. Shpeen said that during his time as a student he did not appear to be the typical Peace Corps recruit.
"When I was at Dartmouth, I don't think anyone would have pegged me as the Peace Corps type, but I was always a firm believer in obligatory national service," he said.
The last speaker, the Peace Corps director of recruitment, Shari Hubert '92, encouraged students to consider joining the Peace Corps because of the chance to gain valuable life skills.
"I challenge you and encourage you to take a leap of faith in yourself ... it is an opportunity to become global citizens," she said.
With the 50th anniversary of the organization approaching in 2011, the Peace Corps will be commemorating the accomplishments of over 200,000 volunteers to date with events across the country, according to the Peace Corps website. While introducing the panel, Caitlin Ardrey '13, who organized the presentation along with Alison Oberg '13 and the support of the Tucker Foundation, said that over 600 of those volunteers have been Dartmouth alumni.
The Peace Corps annually releases a list of the top 25 schools producing recruits, which is broken down into three categories based on size of the student body. Based on data from the Peace Corps, Dartmouth is nationally ranked No. 12 on the 2010 list of small colleges and universities, with 17 College alumni currently serving. According to the Peace Corps database, from 2004 to 2007 Dartmouth was consistently ranked among the top six in the small schools category. In 2006, the College was ranked No. 1 on the list, with 33 Dartmouth alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers that year.
Ardrey said the sense of global purpose at Dartmouth is a reason why so many students have pursued opportunities with the Peace Corps.
"I feel like every student at this school wants to make a difference, whether it's in our community or abroad ... there is a big tradition of community service here," Ardrey said.
