In hopes of making a positive impact on the world, Breton Homewood joined the Peace Corps in 2012 and is now UF’s new the organization’s campus recruiter.
According to a Peace Corps list, UF ranks third in producing the most volunteers compared to other large colleges and universities across the nation as of 2014.
As a campus recruiter, Homewood said he hopes to make UF the No. 1 in volunteers. The University of Washington and University of Wisconsin-Madison currently hold the top two spots.
From September 2012 to December 2014, Homewood served as an agriculture volunteer in Paraguay, where he worked with a community of about 100 people and helped with organic farming, beekeeping and backyard gardening for family nutrition.
He also helped organize a youth camp to teach about environmental conservation, as well as a reforestation project in which he helped plant more than 3,500 native trees in the community.
“I really wanted to be involved in helping make the world a better place,” Homewood said. “While I knew the impact from volunteering is just one person, I really wanted to do something positive and meaningful and experience life from another culture’s perspective. The Peace Corps was all of that and some.”
The Peace Corps is a U.S. government-run program dedicated to providing services around the world.
As of May, 58 UF graduates are serving all around the world with the Peace Corps, said Mabel Cardec, the communications manager for UF’s International Center.
Victoria Dokken, a UF political science and economics graduate, is currently serving in Armenia as an international community and youth development advisor.
UF political science graduate Christina Ertel currently works in Senegal as a sustainable agriculture volunteer.
Joshua Castro is completing a master’s degree in forestry and serving in Paraguay as a forestry volunteer.
UF linguistics graduate Angeline Dorvil was recently sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia and now serves as a ninth-grade English teacher.
Homewood said he hopes to connect with returning Peace Corps volunteers and promote an on-campus program called Peace Corps Prep for Undergrad to give students a head start in the application process.
Homewood is a Gainesville native and graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in math. He will start graduate school at UF in the Fall.
Homewood said the Peace Corps has had a lasting impact on him as well.
“It taught me a lot about myself, more than I realized it would,” he said.
