CSULB is the No. 3 producer of Peace Corps volunteers in the California State University system and has seen a 43 percent increase in students serving in the Peace Corps within the last year.
“This is significant because the overall number of volunteers in the field has slightly decreased during the same time period, but CSULB’s share has increased,” said Kate Kuykendall, a returned Peace Corps volunteer and current public affairs officer for the Peace Corps in Los Angeles.
There are 30 CSULB students currently serving in 23 posts. In total, 698 CSULB students have served since the program started in 1961.
Megan Kelly is a CSULB alumna who served in South Africa from 2007-09 and is now in graduate school at UCLA. While serving, Kelly worked on HIV/AIDS education and community outreach projects in her village.
Kelly said she wanted to volunteer for several reasons.
“I wasn’t ready to go to grad school and I wasn’t ready to enter the workforce,” Kelly said. “I wanted to go because I wanted international experience, especially with a program as renowned as the Peace Corps. I wanted to get outside my comfort zone, challenge myself. I
definitely wanted personal growth. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in life.”
The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy “challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries.”
Since then, 200,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries working on projects including AIDS education, information technology, and environmental preservation.
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