Young feller, the Peace Corps was a creation of JFK I believe, who became Pres 1/20/61 and didn’t get Peace Corps going for awhile,I’d guess.
JFK created the Peace Corps by an EO in March 1961; it was authorized in October 1961. Unlikely they would have accepted a 17 year old. If a college degree wasn’t a requirement, comparable experience that a 17 year old could not possibly have had would have been.
The plan to bring Africans to study in the USA (O’s supposed father) was another Kennedy creation. Nixon opposed it.
“After an address from Kennedy, who was introduced by Rev. Russell Fuller of Memorial Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, on August 28, 1961, the first group of volunteers left for Ghana and Tanzania. The program was formally authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_corps