Peace Corps volunteer Erika Parkins, 27, of Castro Valley, California, worked with her community in Moldova to install a new ventilation system in the kitchen of the local school, which will help ensure students’ meals are prepared in a clean, safe environment. A portion of the funds for the project were raised through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which helps support Peace Corps volunteers’ community projects around the world.

Parkins, who departed for Peace Corps service on June 2, 2015, is currently working as a health education specialist volunteer with the Peace Corps, and will live and work in a community to teach health education at a primary and middle school.

“My decision to join Peace Corps was a culmination of what I had been working towards,” said Parkins. “I had always been interested in international work. I studied it, wrote about it, traveled as much as I could, but I really wanted to put into practice all these things that I had learned. This has given me the opportunity to see the reality, both good and difficult parts, of working abroad.”

Parkins is the daughter of Susie and Doug Parkins of Castro Valley, California, and is a 2007 graduate of Redwood Christian High School in San Lorenzo, California. She attended the University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and criminology, law and society in 2011.

Parkins went on to earn a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution with a concentration in peacebuilding from American University in Washington, D.C., in 2014.

As a student at American University, “One of my professors, Elizabeth Worden, was a huge support to me and my decision to join the Peace Corps. She is actually a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Moldova, as well,” said Parkins.

Prior to joining the Peace Corps, she volunteered as an English teacher in Guatemala and as a youth development volunteer in Haiti, as well as assisted with a human rights monitoring program in Rwanda.

During the first three months of her service, Parkins lived with a host family in Moldova to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the necessary skills to assist her community, Parkins was sworn into service and assigned to the community of Ermoclia, Moldova, where she will live and work for two years with the local people.

“One of the reasons I wanted to join Peace Corps was to really delve into a culture in a way that a short trip just cannot do,” said Parkins. “Learning how to work and live so differently than I ever have has made me a more creative and understanding person.”

Parkins works in cooperation with the local people and partner organizations on sustainable, community-based development projects that improve the lives of people in Moldova and help Parkins develop leadership, technical and cross-cultural skills that will give her a competitive edge when she returns home. Peace Corps volunteers return from service as global citizens well-positioned for professional opportunities in today’s global job market.

Parkins joins the 42 American University alumni currently serving overseas in the Peace Corps and more than 1,020 Eagles who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.

There has never been a better time to apply to Peace Corps, and reforms have made the process simpler, faster, and more personalized than ever before. In 2014, applications reached a 22-year high for the agency, with more than 17,000 Americans taking the first step toward international service. Through a one-hour online application, applicants can now choose the countries and programs they’d like to be considered for. Browse available volunteer positions here.