Interest in nonprofit work has surged this year with the recession, but some students say that they’re committed to doing good deeds and not just an employment safety net.
The Peace Corps, a volunteer program that sends college graduates abroad, saw applications from Northwestern students increase by 12 percent, said Erin McHenry, Chicago recruitment coordinator. She said she expects even more applications next month.
“The biggest reason (those numbers) will jump is the poor job market and the fact that not only are we hiring people, we’re hiring you to do something that is encouraging (in these difficult) times,” she said.
Tessa Rohde, a Teach for America student recruiter at NU, said she signed up to work for the organization because she wants to work with underprivileged children.
“I went to a really urban high school,” said Rohde, a Speech senior from Santa Monica, Calif. “Some of (my classmates) were so intelligent and talented. They didn’t get to go to NU and get the opportunities that I got because of my background. They could have been 10 times smarter than me – and they are.”
Although applications have increased for philanthropic groups in a year when job opportunities for graduates have significantly decreased, NU students interested in programs such as Teach for America and the Peace Corps said they chose to participate in order to help the less fortunate.
Teach for America allows recent college graduates and other young adults to teach for two years in impoverished or urban high schools. Rohde said she plans to teach English and history in San Francisco’s secondary schools.
Students might also feel an obligation to serve the United States and the world because of the events of Sept. 11 and subsequent bombing of Afghanistan, McHenry said.
“They don’t want to join the Army and be a soldier, but they want to promote world peace – and that’s the best way to do it,” she said.
McHenry also said NU students are unusually philanthropic compared with peer institutions, citing figures showing that 52 Peace Corps volunteers in 2000 came from the university. Only 15 students in the same year participated from the University of Chicago.
Weinberg senior Victor Chan said he will use his proficiency in Cantonese when teaches English as a second language with the Peace Corps in China before attending law school. He said his interest in the program stems from work with his church youth group in high school and from spending time in Germany last year.
Teach for America received 33 applications from NU students by its Oct. 15 deadline, said Melanie Zamora, a recruitment coordinator for the Chicago office. Because more students usually apply for the second deadline of Feb. 21, Zamora said she expects this year’s number of applications to exceed the 45 participants Teach for America received from NU last year.
Zamora said students who apply to the program will consider it more than an alternative to finding a job.
“It’s a two-year commitment. You’re going to most likely be in an area you’ve never been before,” she said.
Weinberg senior Kelly Langan said she has known she wanted to work with underprivileged children since her freshman year.
“There are so many teachers who want to go out in the suburbs where the money is and the student population is easier to teach,” Langan said. “But there are so many intelligent, wonderful, creative kids in urban schools. … For me, Teach for America was not an alternative.”
