Few students hunker down over their books in tiny cubicles at the library, desperately cramming for tests in the hope that they will find themselves living on the 14th floor of an apartment building without a guarantee of consistent running water after graduation. They probably don’t picture climbing 288 steps to the top some days because the elevator doesn’t work.

Yet that’s exactly the situation Rebecca Houghtaling, graduate student in urban planning, found herself in after graduating from the University. As a member of the Peace Corps, she taught English and other subjects to students ranging in age from 9 to 17 at a secondary school in Ukraine.

“I realized I wasn’t going to save the world, but I wanted to provide the students with opportunities to make the best decisions for themselves,” Houghtaling said. She added that it was important she went into the experience with no preconceived notions of what to expect.

Houghtaling, who is the University’s local Peace Corps contact, received her undergraduate degrees in history and literature, but cites her experiences as a teaching assistant and tutor as adding to her qualifications for her specific position in the Peace Corps.

Houghtaling described a student who came in thinking that writing an essay in a foreign language was next to impossible.

“Seeing the light bulb go on was just amazing,” Houghtaling said.

While Houghtaling said her family was initially wary of her decision to go overseas for so long, she said it was incredible to share her experience with her father, stepmother and brother when they visited her for 10 days.

“What parent wouldn’t be proud that their child wants to go and help humanity?” Houghtaling asked.

Houghtaling is one of 1,685 University graduates who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. Fifty-two University graduates are serving in countries across the world right now, according to a flier handed out during a Peace Corps informational session Tuesday night.

The purpose of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, a Registered Student Organization, is to provide a forum for previous volunteers to meet with each other and to speak with students interested in joining the Peace Corps.

“I don’t know what I want to do after graduation, but I know I want to work to help people,” said Golli Hashemian, a senior in engineering who attended the informational session.

Mark Schaffer, a junior in engineering, said he came to the session because he wants to see a different part of the world. He said he would probably want to work in the area of engineering.

Three other former Peace Corps volunteers also spoke at the informational session.

Emily Olsen, a University alumna, volunteered in the Dominican Republic for three years. She described her time working as an agriculture volunteer and also teaching English in a small village of 600 people with no electricity or running water as a humbling experience.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t really believe in the Peace Corps,” Olsen said.

Olsen explained that volunteers receive vaccinations, immunizations and their plane tickets free of cost. They are paid a living stipend equal to what a profession in their specific country makes. They also receive $225 per month and earn two days of vacation for every month they work.

Students interested in applying to serve in the Peace Corps must begin the process six months to a year in advance. The process begins by filling out an application, followed by several interviews, she added.

Scott Roskelley, a public affairs specialist, described the three main goals of the Peace Corps. First, they try to match up volunteers with qualifications that meet the needs of specific countries. Second, they hope to bring a little bit of American culture into the lives of people who may otherwise never meet a U.S. citizen.

Roskelley said the third and most important goal for Peace Corps volunteers is to bring a little bit of the culture of countries they work in back to America.

“If we ever need a better understanding of people, we need it now,” Roskelley said.

He added that although a degree relative to a specific program is great, if a student’s degree isn’t relative to the program they want to work for, their community service and volunteer experience will be taken into consideration.

Roskelley, whose background is in public relations, has worked for the Peace Corps for three years.

“I was becoming more cynical about the public relations world the older I got,” Roskelley said. “I wanted to work for a place I could really believe in.”

President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, according to the program’s Web site. Today, Peace Corps volunteers serve in more than 70 countries around the world. Volunteers must agree to leave behind their homes, friends and families for three months of training, followed by two months of service abroad.

The Peace Corps is a program of the federal government. Returnees have an enhanced hiring advantage for federal jobs over other candidates when they return to America.

Roskelley added that joining the Peace Corps helps volunteers figure out what they want to do with their lives.

The cover of the Peace Corps brochure handed out Tuesday stated, “Life is calling. How far will you go?”

“The Peace Corps offers rewards you simply can’t get here,” Houghtaling said.