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Lots Of New Yorkers Join The Peace Corps, Save On Rent

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Published Dec 22, 2016

Modified Dec 22, 2016

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Article sponsored by

Published Dec 22, 2016

Modified Dec 22, 2016

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Sometimes, the best way to love New York is to leave. That’s what Diamond Butler chose to do after graduating college. Undeterred by the trappings of quarter-life city dwellers - such as overpriced cocktails, fusion pubs with monosyllabic monikers, and oyster riots that live up to their name - Butler did the unexpected: She became a Peace Corps volunteer in the archipelago of Comoros.

“In my village, people always ask me why I am in such a rush,” Butler said. “I try to explain I am a New Yorker, we simply come out of the womb rushing to get somewhere.”

The Queens native is already making a difference in her community overseas. “We are working on getting solar panels and getting ready to launch a girls’ mentoring program.”

With 379 volunteers overseas, including Butler, NYC is the second largest Peace Corps volunteer-producing metro area in the country. If you, too, have considered taking a break from this city and doing the unexpected, you still have time to apply before January 1 for a job in Cambodia, Mozambique, the Philippines, and other overseas locales. You're guaranteed to spend less time trapped underground.

This post is brought to you by the Peace Corps.

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