In 2003, Kathy Milam, 23, of San Diego had just graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara -- and she was panicked.

The political science/international relations major didn't know what to do with her life.

She wanted an international internship, but couldn't find any that were both interesting and cheap.

That is, until she found the Peace Corps Web site.

Now, all that stands between Milam and a job teaching health and nutrition in South America is two months and a letter telling her which country she'll live in.

"It just kind of clicked," she said of her decision.

She's not alone. According to the Peace Corps, more than 70 alumni from UCSB will go on assignment this year -- more than any other large school in Southern California and the eighth highest in the nation.

UCLA is only sending 61 students.

Historically, said recruiter Chiraphone Khamphouvong, the Santa Barbara school has consistently been a top contributor to the program, having sent 1,352 alumni since the Corps' inception in 1961.

Some speculate the reason is the school's International and Global studies program, which could encourage worldwide travel and an interest in global affairs.

But, alumni say, UCSB was sending record numbers of volunteers before the program's first year in 1999.

Others say it's the atmosphere of the campus, with its heavy emphasis on activism and community service.

Most alumni say its simpler than that, though. The type of person who would be drawn to the Peace Corps, they reason, would be drawn to Santa Barbara.

"It's pretty laid back there," said Milam, who added that the oceanside campus is attractive to environmentalists and other liberal, nature-loving types.

In fact, many Peace Corps volunteers who graduated from UCSB said they were interested in the program before they attended college.

Milam and her sister used to dream of joining the Peace Corps when they were children, even though she admits she didn't quite understand what it was then.

And Angela Hook, a 24-year-old who leaves for Senegal this month, said she's been interested in Peace Corps since high school.

But Sarah Allen, a 26-year-old New Yorker who returned from Turkmenistan in 2001, said the experiences she had because of UCSB did help her decide to join.

As a junior, the political science major visited Ghana through the education abroad program.

She was so impressed by Peace Corps volunteers she met there, she applied for the Corps before graduating in 2000.

"It made me really excited," Allen said.

Though her trip was turbulent -- she knew little about the country before leaving, had some trouble adjusting to an extremely nationalistic society, and was evacuated from the country after 9/11 -- she still thinks of it as a positive experience.

For one, she said, "you gain so much ... not only learning about another culture, but about yourself."

And second, her yearlong stint with the Peace Corps has now helped her figure out what to do with her life.

Rather than return to Turkmenistan right away, Allen decided to enroll in a master's program at Columbia University through a Peace Corps fellowship.

There, she's learning how to teach English to speakers of other languages.

"I realized I wanted to teach from being in the Peace Corps," Allen said. "I didn't know that beforehand."

Allen does plan to join the Corps again later in life.

"I think it's a good thing for anyone," she said.

As for Milam and Hook, they just can't wait to get started. All they have to do is go to training, get immunizations and leave.

That is, of course, after packing for two years in a foreign country.

"It's been kind of stressing me out," said Hook, who has backpacked alone and lived in Italy. "Whenever I go abroad, I always overpack ... I'm trying to limit myself to one suitcase and one backpack."