The Peace Corps Prep Program at Elon University offers a hands-on way for students to connect with the university’s guiding principle of global citizenship.

The program is part of Elon’s environmental studies department and fosters skills in sustainable agriculture, responsible architecture and environmental management, according to the Peace Corps Prep Program website.

“It fits in really nice,” said professor Steve Moore, director of the Peace Corps Prep Program’s advisory committee. “The Peace Corps and our emphasis on engaged learning and global citizenship are all really key parts of graduating and continuing the Elon tradition.”

The prep program was created February 2013 after President Leo Lambert approved the initiative, forging a collaborative relationship between the university and the Peace Corps.

“We wanted to provide them skills in sustainable food systems,” Moore said. “As their projects evolve, they can develop their own skills.”

The Peace Corps is a highly selective service program that sends Americans across the world to aid the pressing needs of developing countries. Volunteers work to improve the infrastructure of their chosen countries and assist local populations by teaching them skills in sustainability and self-sufficiency, said the Peace Corps website.

Junior Philip Gurley is currently enrolled in the prep program. As an international studies major with a concentration in Latin American studies, Gurley said he’s primed to work in South America after he graduates.

“My uncle was involved with volunteer work in Africa,” Gurley said.  “I’d like to follow in his footsteps and do humanitarian work in Latin America.”

The prep program, which currently has around 150 enrollees, allows students to get experience and learn valuable trade skills. The skills students learn will prepare them for construction or farming-related assignments, if they choose to join the Peace Corps after graduation. 

“It’s definitely been rewarding so far,” Gurley said. “Last year I started some environmental science courses. Now I’m actually taking a garden studio class during the spring. This ties into the sustainable agriculture expectations for the Peace Corps.”

On July 15, the Peace Corps reworked its application and selection process. Resulting in a more personalized, shorter and efficient application system. Applicants are now able to choose which programs and countries they wish to apply to and know whether they are accepted into the program earlier.

While Peace Corps applicants like Gurley will apply with the new, streamlined application system, past applicants weren’t so fortunate.

Elon graduate Kylee Bushway is currently waiting for her departure date for Madagascar as a Peace Corps volunteer.  Applying under the old Peace Corps application, Bushway wasn’t able to choose her destination.

Even so, Bushway said she is excited to become a community health adviser in Madagascar, teaching its citizens child health, water sanitation and preventative measures against STIs.

“I bought into the whole Elon global citizen thing from the first year on,” Bushway said. “Being a public health major, I’ve already studied and been exposed to international health issues.”

While Bushway didn’t go through Elon’s Peace Corps Prep Program, she said it’s “a good way to open up Elon students’ eyes earlier as underclassmen.”