Taking on a Tough Job

International education is just one way that Rice students gain experience overseas. Another is working in a foreign country, and as a growing number of Rice students are discovering, there may be few overseas jobs more rewarding than working with the Peace Corps.

The proof of that increasing interest is Rice’s spot on the Peace Corps list of Top 25 Producing Colleges and Universities, which ranked Rice 24 out of 25 in the small college category, or those with fewer than 5,000 undergraduate students. In 2004, there were 16 Peace Corps volunteers from Rice.

“Throughout the years, Rice University has made a tremendous contribution to this agency’s global legacy of public service,” says Peace Corps director Gaddi Vasquez. “This ranking clearly reflects the high caliber of students who attend your institution.”

Annaliese Limb, a regional recruiter for the Peace Corps, has been working with Rice students for three semesters. Candidates go through a rigorous application process, she explains, but Rice students generally are very strong applicants, bringing to the table outstanding academic performance, a solid community service background, and a broad world view.

Elizabeth Decker and Lucas Shindeldecker are two current Peace Corps volunteers from Rice. They joined for different reasons, but the 2004 graduates now are fully immersed in the experience and can attest to the organization’s motto that the Peace Corps is “the toughest job you’ll ever love.”

Shindeldecker is working in a Peace Corps nongovernmental organization program in Qarshi, Uzbekistan. He joined the service organization to gain experience working in community development. “So far, the experience has been incredible,” he says. “I am learning two languages and have great interactions with the local people.”

Rice prepared him well for the Peace Corps, Shindeldecker notes, especially the courses he took in Arabic and Chinese and the social sciences. “Also, in general, Rice students are aware of the outside world and the need to help those at risk, particularly in Third World countries. Many of my friends at Rice were international students or those interested in overseas experience and work, which helped to form a supportive environment for what I wanted to do.”

Decker joined the Peace Corps because she wanted to experience living in another culture before settling into a career. She teaches English to fifth- and sixth-graders in a small village in Azerbaijan in southwestern Asia between Iran and Russia. “The big buzz word in education here is ‘interactive methodology.’ I don’t really have an education background, but I try to be interactive,” Decker says. “I spend most of my evenings at home by the woodstove making visual aids by candlelight with my imported Crayola markers, and a lot of the kids know me as the ‘picture lady.’”

Decker also hosts a weekly English language television show on a local channel and teaches an English class to a group of women learning office and computer skills at a local nongovernmental organization.
Peace Corps service, which lasts for two years after an initial three month training period, can be invaluable in guiding new graduates into their careers. Shindeldecker, for instance, plans to continue working in community development, so his Peace Corps job will provide him with important work experience. Decker has discovered through her service that she definitely does not want a career as a teacher.

Programs are offered in business, agriculture, education, health education and awareness, at-risk youth, nongovernmental organization advising, urban planning, and environmental engineering. Limb notes that Rice applicants display flexibility in where they are willing to serve and on what type of project, which also are factors that make them strong candidates.

Decker advises students to apply to the Peace Corps for the right reasons. “Don’t join the Peace Corps just because you can’t think of anything else to do,” she says. “Join because you really want to live and work in another country.”

The Peace Corps is hard work, Decker adds, not the hours of lounging around in hammocks that some people might imagine. But the work is very rewarding. “You will be offered great opportunities—like hosting your own television show—but also come up against huge obstacles, like kids and local teachers not coming to school in the winter because it’s too cold.”

“The big challenges,” she says, “are learning the language and culture while trying to do meaningful work. But hopefully everyone will have as much fun as I am having.”

—Dana Benson