"We look for a good listener," Peluse says. "Someone who will not ask questions that the caller doesn't allude to."

Because PCC reaches out to larger groups of people, it is also important to choose people who are open and comfortable talking about sexuality with anyone, according to the counselors.

"People need to be comfortable talking with both sexes and varying sexual orientations," says PCC member Josh A. Slater '00.

"We ask 'Can you say the word penis out-loud to 50 people?'" Peluse says.

Gould says each PCC members goes through "extensive training on medical information, [and] counseling skills" after they are selected.

"The staffers are a great group of students who are really altruistic and enthusiastic," Gould says. "Some are going into various service professions, but not all."

A Lifetime Commitment

Several counselors say they joined PCC to help people. Specifically, they cite the importance of discussing sexuality, particularly among college-aged students.

Slater, a psychology concentrator, says he wanted to join a peer counseling group because he plans to pursue a career in therapy.

" I chose PCC because I think it's an important topic for college campuses, something we as a community and a as larger nation need to learn to talk about," Slater says.

Peluse says she is very interested in health and sexuality issues but is not certain that she wants to pursue a career in this area. She says PCC gives her the opportunity to test the waters in that field.

But Thompson says she interviewed for PCC for completely different reasons.

"They came to my dorm to do an outreach and they seemed like cool people I guess," Thompson says. " It didn't have a whole lot of meaning at the time."

Dealing with tough topics means you need a sense of humor, she says. After several years of experience counseling with the group, Thompson says, the issues PCC deals with are very important to her.

"The information became really relevant," she says. "You're on a campus, you see it happening, people need information. Once I had learned about this stuff, I liked the idea of telling other people about it and doing it in the fun way that PCC does."

PCC does not require a large time commitment from counselors and offers them personal benefits. They get weekly support from their involvement with PCC. All PCC staff members meet one a week with Gould, in the "Supe group," to discuss their own lives.

" In Supe group I can talk freely about my own sexuality and problems. It's kind of like therapy for me," Peluse says.

Peluse says that she can sense when students feel better after talking to her, which is the biggest reward of PCC. The group often receives compliments about their work.

"I'm happy and excited to part of network of peer counseling here," Slater says. "I'd love to see it accessed more and to let more people know we have an amazing network of counseling on campus."