By Ashley Makowski

For Josh Vanek, network services director for Montana Campus Compact, the two years he spent working for Peace Corps in Latvia were nothing short of life-changing.

“I got to live and work in a fascinating part of the world, made friends, learned a new language, became friends with a lot of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers and really had my world view substantially altered,” Josh Vanek said reflecting on his tour in Ventspils, Latvia.

Vanek will be a speaker during the University of Montana Western’s week-long salute to the Peace Corps from March 15 through March 19.

President John F. Kennedy signed the executive order establishing the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. Upon signing, Kennedy said, “The logic of the Peace Corps is that someday we are going to bring it home to America.”

There are currently over 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 76 host countries around the world.

Members of Montana Western’s staff and faculty served in the Peace Corps themselves. Sarah Juran, director of career services, along with husband Chris Guttenberg, formerly an industrial technology professor at UMW, served a Peace Corps tour in the Solomon Islands. Biology professor Linda Lyon served a tour in Madagascar.

“It’s good to promote volunteerism and Montana Western’s revived Campus Corps group,” Juran said. “Peace Corps Week will provide students with resources that will let them know what their options are. ”

Peace Corps week at Montana Western features four days of informational presentations featuring the former Peace Corps volunteers and the Montana Western Campus Corps. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about the Master’s International program, which allows students to earn their master’s degree by combining two years of Peace Corps service with on-campus coursework.

“I endorse the Peace Corps for several reasons,” Vanek added. “I think it is an excellent way to be part of a peaceful foreign policy. It was completely challenging for me in hundreds of ways and I think I came back better equipped to work in the United States. And I appreciate the U.S. substantially more now, but I also see how incredibly resourceful folks can be in the parts of world without the wealth that we have here.”

Serving in the Peace Corps or volunteering in the Campus Corps group can help students gain personal and professional experience that will help them in their future careers, Juran said.

Juran also pointed out the overlapping of philosophies between the Peace Corps and Montana Western approaches to learning by doing.

“Montana Western’s model is experiential learning, and volunteering in these two groups provides practical field experience that serves as an extension of that philosophy.”

Peace Corps Week Schedule