From nextPCVs

Peace Corps Volunteer Profile:

Name: Ryan Rodriguez

Age: 23

Hometown: Antelope, Calif.

Current City: Seattle, Wash.

Alma Mater: Seattle University, Social Work, 2010

Country of Service: Ecuador

Assignment: Urban Youth Development

Departure: May 2012

For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON /January 17, 2012/ — Ryan Rodriguez, 23, of Antelope, Calif., has been accepted into the Peace Corps.

Rodriguez will be departing for Ecuador in May, 2012 to begin pre-service training as a Urban Youth Development Peace Corps volunteer.

Rodriguez says he was motivated to join the Peace Corps because, “Ever since high school when I first started volunteering, I would enjoy learning about people of all sorts of backgrounds and personalities. While getting my Bachelor of Social Work, I discovered my passion for working with people to better themselves within society. Social Work has become a part of who I am and how I go about the world. Becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer is a chance to grow as a person and as a professional. I’m excited for this opportunity to share, learn, and grow with new people and in new places.”

During his first three months of service, Rodriguez will live with a host family in Ecuador to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary to assist his host country, he will be sworn into service and be assigned to a community where he will live and work for two years with the local people.

Rodriguez is a 2010 graduate of Seattle University, where he earned a degree in Social Work.

Rodriguez joins the 1,202 California residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 27,913 California residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.