You may not be able to major in peace, but there’s no reason you can’t pursue it.

As students go through college and near graduation, entering the workforce is the natural next step.

Needless to say, joining the Peace Corps is an option that not many think to explore.

But the Peace Corps offers great work and life experience that you cannot gain from any regular internship or after-school job. You get to work abroad and step into a community outside of your own.

In fact, joining the Peace Corps may well provide the escape you need.

“This is not an alternative to a work; the Corps is a job. It is an unparalleled professional and cultural experience,” said Nathan Hale Sargent, public affairs specialist to the Peace Corps. Sargent served in the Peace Corps in Armenia from 1998 to 2000.

Especially now, when people are overly conscious of where their money is going, it’s hard to consider the needs of others. The struggle to hold on to jobs and support our own families is overwhelming. A steady source of income is becoming a luxury.

Sacramento holds a 12 percent unemployment rate, just .1 percent below the rate for the entire state of California, according to the Labor Market Information Division’s data from Aug. 21.

The findings of the 2009 National Association of Colleges and Employers’ student surveys are disheartening.

Only 19.7 percent of job applicants with a degree in hand actually got hired.

The statistics are startling, but the emptiness of our wallets speaks for itself. We’re trapped in the stressful routine of living paycheck to paycheck. Money is spent before it ever makes it to your bank account.

Not to be mistaken as a last resort, the Peace Corps is the option most never knew they had.

Rooted in international community service and volunteering, the work you can do for the Corps can put everything into perspective.

“(In the) Peace Corps ? you learn just as much as you teach. It literally opens up a new world of possibilities,” Sargent said.

That professional and cultural experience includes spending 27 months abroad. During that time, volunteers work with the peoples of a community to reach goals that the community itself has identified.

More than the incomparable experience, the Corps offers attractive financial incentives to volunteering, detailed on the Peace Corps website.

Among these is the deferment and, in some cases, complete cancellation of school loans, on top of a living allowance to assist in adapting to life overseas. There’s even a way to complete a master’s program while you work abroad.

Then, after your service, you come home to a payment of about $6,000 to help ease you out of the jet lag.

At first glance, it may be hard to imagine taking on a job founded in helping others when you’re up to your knees in your own problems.

But the Peace Corps is a viable option in choosing a career path. It’s a chance to do some good and do good work. So come on, why not give peace a chance?

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