Students can follow in the footsteps of two recent alumni as they head to the Ukraine with the Peace Corps.

Married alumni Matt and Kathrina Konfirst will teach English in eastern Europe. According to a news release from the Peace Corps., seniors should apply by Sept. 30 if they want to leave on volunteer missions after graduation.

“Now is the time. We don’t have kids yet, we don’t have a mortgage, we’re in good health … it was sort of the perfect time to do it,” Matt Konfirst said.

The Peace Corps was something the two were interested in when they got into college, before they started dating. International travel piqued their interests and was the deciding factor between a volunteer program in the United States or the Peace Corps.

Students who want to pursue Peace Corps opportunities can contact volunteers to talk about their experiences.

“That’s what I recommend, to try and get a hold of people … and do informational interviews. Meet them for coffee,” Kathrina Konfist said.

Peace Corps recruiter Rok Teasley, who is in charge of recruiting from 17 schools, said the students from NIU have a good work ethic.

“It is obvious that they really care about the work they are doing. There is a really high quality of work coming from NIU students,” he said.

There are about 12 applicants per year from NIU, and of those 12 four or five are chosen for Peace Corps service.

On their applications, the Konfirsts said they would live anywhere and under any conditions. They decided it would be better to not choose a place and see where the Peace Corps needed them, and they didn’t want to develop any ideas of what it would be like before they arrived.

It was very important to the couple that they stay together in their service work. There were additional questions they had to answer as a couple.

“The one that we liked the most was, ‘How will you cope with being with your spouse in close quarters for two years?” said Matt Konfirst.

Kathrina added, “It just sounded very drastic … so we always laugh about that.”

The Konfirsts’ goals revolve around language, culture and education. Overseas they will also teach the culture of North America.

“I’m also really interested in learning the language … and development work in general … finding out the things that we can do in other countries to help them develop and reach their potential,” Matt Konfirst said.