South Carolina's volunteer numbers topped by Clemson's, College of Charleston
Clemson and College of Charleston may fall short of USC in population, but their representation in the Peace Corps does not.
The lone Peace Corps representatives at USC are third-year political science student Grant Martz and third-year journalism student Jared Owenby, who both plan to enter the Peace Corps after graduation. They are currently seeking other interns to help with publicity.
College of Charleston, Clemson, USC Upstate and USC Aiken all have around ten interns representing the Peace Corps on their respective campus.
Martz obtained his internship with the Peace Corps in January using JobMate. He recruited Owenby, an interested friend, shortly after. Martz is responsible for administration and Owenby works on social media outreach.
Both are currently working on their Peace Corps applications. Martz would like to work in Africa, while Owenby would like to work in Eastern Europe.
Since January, Martz and Owenby have attempted to garner interest by setting up booths on Greene Street and by speaking at various events and to service sororities and fraternities.
However, they have a long way to go until USC catches up with surrounding schools in terms of representation and the number of graduates who enter the Peace Corps.
“People at USC seem skeptical about the commitment,” said Martz. “Peace Corps hasn’t had the word out here like they have at other campuses.”
At Charleston, Martz said the interns have to do very little because students flock naturally to their booths.
“Here, we have to work to have meetings and interest,” said Martz. “Out of our whole graduation class, we only know of about five (students) right now that will go into the Peace Corps.”
Martz and Owenby tell students that those who enter the Peace Corps can defer and sometimes cancel loans, receive a monthly stipend and receive medical and dental benefits. Those who finish their 27-month commitment are able to bypass general public interview for federal jobs and are preferential candidates.
These benefits of the program, in addition to living abroad, are what intrigued fourth-year international studies student Meagan Gunning. Gunning received her assignment to North Africa in late January and hopes she can go to Morocco, Tunisia or Jordan. With minors in French and African studies, she will teach English during her commitment.
“It’s an incredible experience you can’t get anywhere else,” said Gunning.
Most Peace Corps campus groups have been established long before USC’s, but Martz and Owenby are hopeful that they can establish a growing presence.
“We just hope we can get our Twitter followers in double digits,” joked Owenby.