UF Peace Corps program again tops rankings in nation

February 15, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida’s Peace Corps program continues to grow, ranking second overall in the nation for the second year in a row.

In 2009 the program ranked 15th, jumping 10 spots to number five in 2010. In 2011, UF had 101 undergraduates and 30 graduate students volunteer.

Jessica Childers, 26, volunteered in the Republic of Georgia after she graduated from UF with a degree in political science. Childers originally went to Georgia the year Russia invaded, but she was forced to come home and volunteer nine months later.

“You go into Peace Corps thinking you’re doing one thing with your life and you come out with a completely different view of what you want to do,” she said.

She had been unsure of her future, but the experience made her realize she wanted to work with education policy in developing countries.

As an education volunteer, her main responsibility was teaching English at a primary school, but she also helped to reinstate an essay contest that challenges students in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova to practice English and think creatively.

Today, Childers works at UF’s International Center as an assistant for program development, and concentrates on another goal of the Peace Corps: educating Americans about the countries where volunteers have worked.

UF’s Peace Corps recruiter Amy Panikowski volunteered in Malawi, Africa, and has been recruiting for UF since 2005.

“Both rankings demonstrate the quality of students and UF’s commitment to internationalizing the curriculum,” she said. “We only send our best and brightest to serve.”

She looks for volunteers with a certain skill set: demonstrated leadership, flexibility, a drive to help other people and a willing to stretch their comfort zone.

The national Peace Corps office records the amount of students serving from each school and the kind of students, based on their degrees. In 2011, UF was first in Southeast with 101 undergraduates, with almost twice as many as the second place with 55. UF also was first in the Southeast for graduate students with 30 while the second-place had only 14. UF’s most recent numbers rank it fourth in the nation for undergraduates, and first for graduates.

Panikowski contributes the program’s success to word of mouth and accessibility.

“My applicants are very good at sharing with the rest of the community,” she said.

Often, students come into her office after hearing volunteers’ stories of their experiences abroad. Her office is in the International Center in the Hub, a central location for students on campus.

Nick Parr, 24, heard about it through UF’s Study Abroad Fair. With a master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology, Parr is awaiting his invitation to volunteer with the number one Peace Corps graduate program in the country.

“It definitely makes me proud to be a Gator,” he said.

There are Gators in every region, Panikowski said. Currently, the most students are in Africa, but students are also volunteering in Latin America, Eastern Europe and central Asia, with smaller numbers in Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands, northern Africa and the Middle East. Students volunteer to work in agriculture, environment, education, business development, youth development and more, often corresponding to their area of study and skill set.

“It’s an opportunity to see what the rest of the world looks like,” she said. Then she stresses to her volunteers it’s just as much about personal growth and finding the direction they want to take in the world.

UF students will have an opportunity to hear Peace Corps director Aaron S. Williams speak at 6 p.m. Feb. 21 at MacKay Auditorium in Pugh Hall. The event is free and open to the public.