On the steps of the Michigan Union, there is a small bronze circle embedded in the ground.
The plaque's location is where Sen. John F. Kennedy, at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, 1960, stood as he proposed an international volunteer program to a crowd of cheering students. Three months later President Kennedy enacted the proposal, and the Peace Corps, conceived on the steps of the Union, was born.
The whole thing started right here.
Today, the Peace Corps has more than 6,000 volunteers working in approximately 90 nations. More than 150,000 volunteers have served the Peace Corps since the very first mission left for Ghana in August 1961. Presently, 82 University alums are volunteering across the globe.
The Corps is as strong as ever.
"If you're thinking about signing up for a program like this one, this is the time to take that leap," said Joseph Dorsey, Peace Corps recruiter for the University. "Right after graduation, you'll be working, and this is no entry-level job. You're both first-level and supervision right away."
Working for the Peace Corps entails an experience unlike any other.
"You may not see the benefits immediately," Dorsey said. "But you touch a lot of people along the way. You really change some people's lives."
Dorsey himself volunteered from 1979-81 in the Ivory Coast. Most Peace Corps missions are two-year commitments.
During those two years, volunteers try to fulfill the threefold mission of the Peace Corps: to provide technical assitance to countries that request it; to help other nations learn about American culture by having Americans spend two years there; and to give Americans an opportunity to travel the world and immerse themselves in different cultures.
Peace Corps missions range from assisting with soil studies in Ghana to teaching English as a second language to Polish high school students.
And the occasional trip to Timbuktu.
"No kidding, it's a real place," Dorsey said. "It took us two weeks to get there and back. We took trains, cars, boats, Jeeps and then some camels."
Dorsey wasn't a tourist there, though. He was working in the local hospital and teaching English. Others have had similar experiences.
"It was a really funky time. All the volunteers in my country got together once every three months to pick up our paychecks," said Marcy Strazer, who served in Zaire and spoke last Thursday night at a Peace Corps information session. "We had great stories to tell each other - 'someone stole my goat, guess who ate my cat?' - stuff like that. Then we went to our villages to do more work in agriculture or education."
This type of experience is one of many that prosepective Peace Corps volunteers look forward to.
"I'm graduating, and I keep asking, 'What will I do with my life?' The Peace Corps sounds a lot more interesting than a job in industry," said Engineering senior Jeff Sanchez.
Students who have served in the Peace Corps said that the Corps is a perfect "job" right after graduation.
"Now is the time," said School of Public Health student Denise Sanderson, who volunteered in Lesotho. "Sooner or later life gets in the way. You don't want to miss an opportunity like this one."
Opportunities like this one, Dorsey said, are few and far between.
"There aren't many jobs like this," he said. "When you leave, you can leave something behind that will change people's lives. This is the toughest job you'll ever love."
JOSH BIGGS/Daily
Peace Corps member Craig Barkan speaks last week at an information session.