Photo above: Kenzie Steiner and Katie Schmitz
Sadie Ritter and Emily Trouba are among eight University of Nebraska–Lincoln students who earned a certificate from the Peace Corps for successfully completing the Peace Corps Prep program. They are the first Nebraska students to receive the certificate since the program launched in September 2021.
Integrating coursework, hands-on experience and professional development, Nebraska’s Peace Corps Prep program prepares undergraduates for international development fieldwork and potential Peace Corps service by building four core competencies: sector-specific skills, foreign language proficiency, intercultural competence, and professional savvy and leadership. Each student focuses on one Peace Corps sector: agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health, or youth in development.
- Ritter is majoring in global studies and Russian and is in the "education" Peace Corps sector.
- Trouba is majoring in political science and is in the "youth in development" sector.
Students can take the Intercultural Development Inventory assessment upon acceptance and completion, receive a study abroad scholarship up to $5,000, and engage with peers and local returned Peace Corps volunteers through events, mentorship and group volunteer experiences. Certificate recipients gain a competitive edge when applying for Peace Corps service.
The first group of recipients represents four academic colleges and five Peace Corps sectors. They received the Lieding Global Impact Scholarship to study in Argentina, Costa Rica, Portugal and Zambia, studying a language used in Peace Corps and/or visiting a country where Peace Corps has worked.
