On July 8, 2009, Samantha Houston will leave for Mali, West Africa with the United States Peace Corps. Her job title will be an Agriculture Extension and Community Development agent. As an agriculture Volunteer she will work as an extension agent with local communities and individuals to improve horticultural, field crops, and livestock production in the area to which she will be posted. She will be assigned to work in partnership with the Malian government organization responsible for rural development activities as well as with local non-government organizations (NGOs) that are working in collaboration with the government. Also all Volunteers take up HIV/AIDS education and play a key role in the Peace Corps' HIV/AIDS Initiative which addresses the multiple health, social, and economic problems related to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Samantha, along with her desire to travel and engage in international community service, decided to apply to the Peace Corps after her alternative spring break experience with the Student Affairs Global Experience (S.A.G.E) program her senior year. Her experience in Senegal, West Africa was as an invaluable one that reaffirmed her commitment to enter the medical field and provided her with an introduction to global citizenship and international affairs. She will be stationed in Mali for two years, returning to the United States in September 2011.