by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
Sharon Sugarek, the regional director for Peace Corps, said UNM has a good pool of students for the program.
In the past couple years, many UNM students with backgrounds in health and social work have gone into Peace Corps, she said.
"We're always looking for people with those particular skills to work in youth development and health education, so UNM has been a real good school for producing very qualified volunteers for us," she said.
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Sugarek is visiting Albuquerque to speak about Peace Corps opportunities at the Latin American and Iberian Institute. She arrived Tuesday.
She manages the recruitment offices in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.
It's not easy to get into Peace Corps, she said.
The organization gets 10,000 to 12,000 applicants per year and selects 3,500 to 4,000, she said.
Peace Corps has about 7,400 volunteers serving in 72 countries, she said. The largest program is in Ukraine with about 300 volunteers, she said.
Joseph Garcia, GPSA president, ran the Peace Corps office at UNM for two years.
Garcia said one of the reasons UNM has been a successful recruiting school is because of the large population of Spanish speakers.
Sugarek said applicants who have mastered other languages are appealing.
"We're always looking for people who are comfortable with different languages," she said. "If someone has a particular interest in serving in Latin America, we do require people to have a certain fluency level in Spanish already. If you're not a native speaker of Spanish, then we're looking for at least four college semesters of Spanish."
Garcia said Sugarek's events will benefit the UNM Peace Corps office.
"It'll be great for recruitment," he said. "She's great. She's a very knowledgeable resource."
Sugarek came to UNM to review the office for the 2007 contract, which begins next month.
"Then I get to do the stuff I really like, which is talking to people and telling them about Peace Corps and what a great opportunity it is," she said. "So, that's my treat."
Today's session at noon will provide some general information but will focus more on how to be a qualified applicant, Sugarek said. The meeting will address what kinds of volunteer work qualify applicants for positions with the Peace Corps, she said.
Garcia said the experiences gained from working in Peace Corps teach volunteers much-needed skills for their professional careers and lives.
Many volunteers find opportunities they want to pursue after their time in the program, Sugarek said.
"A lot of people become more interested in working in international organizations or organizations that have a broader scope," she said. "Peace Corps leads you sometimes on a path that you might not have known was your path before you went in."
Peace Corps gives volunteers independence to decide what methods should be used to accomplish different goals in the host country's community, she said.
Lisa Paton replaced Garcia this year in UNM's Peace Corps office.
Paton said there will be one general information meeting per month in addition to specialized presentations for students in specific colleges and majors.
Sugarek said one of her goals is to inform people of the program.
"My main goal is to just get the word out to as many people as possible on the UNM campus - both students and faculty and staff," Sugarek said. "Peace Corps offers a tremendous opportunity for a person."
