Could you give up a good life in America with a good job, leave a loving family and friends behind and travel many miles to a poor country with no luxuries?

That is exactly what Elizabeth Eddy did last May. She joined the Peace Corps.

After three months of "extremely rigorous training," Eddy said she will go to Nicaragua, the center of Central America, for two years as a community health promoter.

"It is recommended for a person to have either professional or volunteer experience in areas such as HIV/AIDS prevention, nutrition or other areas in the health field," Eddy said. "I had to become first aid certified before I could be given this assignment."

Eddy volunteered for an HIV/AIDS organization in Washington, D.C. while she worked for Congressman Tom Cole. She also has two years of Spanish -- the minimum requirement for serving in the Peace Corps -- so she will be sent to a Spanish speaking country.

After her training, she will be placed in a community in another part of Nicaragua for two years where she will work with local health centers ("centros de salud" ? the word in Spanish) to give short presentations ("charlas" ? the word in Spanish) about different health themes.

"I'll also work to create youth clubs and teach them about dengue/malaria prevention, STIs, the importance of personal hygiene and hand washing, etc.," Eddy said. "The youth in Nicaragua are an especially important demographic since Nicaragua is a very young country with the majority of its population under the age of 25."

"I'll also be working with pregnant teenagers and passing along nutrition and health information in an effort to reduce Nicaragua's high rate of infant mortality."

Eddy said she has been fortunate to learn about what it means to be a servant "from people who are much wiser and more seasoned than I am."

"I've learned it from my father, through his work with the Red Cross and Rotary and I've learned it from my mother who does one of the toughest and important jobs in the country -- teaching," Eddy said. "And I've learned service through working for the government and working with generous people from my home state. I signed up for the Peace Corps because I wanted to do something unique to assist a developing nation while serving my country."

Although Eddy has not been to Nicaragua or any place in Central America, she has traveled abroad. Her first exposure to other parts of the world was with the National Honor Society in junior high. She went to England one year and then England, France and Italy the next year.

"I can't tell you how much these travels opened my eyes to the bigger world," she said.

In college, Eddy studied abroad at Oxford University in Oxford, England. She traveled to Nairobi, Kenya and worked at an orphanage. In 2008, she traveled to Egypt with the American Council for Young Political leaders as part of an exchange program to Egypt's parliament.

Once a person signs with the Peace Corps, it can take anywhere from a little over a year to less than four months to be placed. It takes longer if two applicants are married and trying to be placed in the same country, she said.

Eddy will return to the states in April 2012.

Eddy is the daughter of City Manager Steve Eddy. Her mother is a reading teacher splitting her time between Kelly and Southgate elementary schools. She has a brother, Matt.

A graduate of Westmoore High School, Eddy continued her education at Baylor University where she received a bachelor's in communications and a minor in political science in 2005. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master's degree in international relations in May 2009.

"I was in OU's advanced programs where OU flies different professors to other parts of the world so that people (mostly military service members) can obtain master's degrees," Eddy said. "It's an amazing program."

She was able to do this degree from Washington, D.C. while she worked for Cole.

"The application is rigorous and I wouldn't encourage anyone to enter into Peace Corps service lightly," Eddy said. "The medical clearance process alone is grueling and can take a month or more."

"That being said, the Peace Corps experience is well worth it."