Family and Friends … I’m joining the Peace Corps!

Family and Friends,

I guess it’s time to fill all of you in on my little secret. The last few weeks have been quite the adventure for me and I must say it has been extremely difficult not sharing this information with all of you. In short, I wanted to wait until a few things were more concrete before announcing to the world the decisions I have made for the upcoming months … and years. Some of these things have now fallen into place, so here’s goes …

About two weeks ago I decided to apply for the Peace Corps. I won’t go into deal about my reasons for applying (you can read that on the “My Peace Corps Decision” page) but I will tell you a bit about what I’ve gone through over the last two weeks.

Everything was pretty much a whirlwind. I decided to apply last Monday and after submitting my application spent the next few days asking for recommendations, doing research, reading blogs, and getting excited about the opportunity. It took about a week for all my paperwork to get in and for the phone call to come to set up an interview. That happened last Monday and the interview was scheduled for Friday.

I went on the interview on Friday and it went incredibly well. We talked about my options with PC – youth development, teaching, and teacher trainer positions. I was most interested in youth development and teacher training … go figure. My recruiter set up a phone call for today to inform me of my nomination so I waited patiently (or not so patiently) all weekend for her to call today.

Well, today that phone call came and she informed me that she was nominating me for a Teacher Training position in the Pacific Islands leaving in October, 2010. After a big of deductive reasoning (looking at their scheduled leave dates for a Pacific Island departure in October) I figured out that I am being nominated for the island of Tonga (you don’t officially find out your country until the final stage about two months before departure).

This was actually quite a surprise for me. I had done some research and had another idea of where I would be going, but I’m not too disappointed at the proposition of spending my time on a tropical island J I will admit that October is much sooner than I had anticipated, but if that’s when they need me, that’s when I’ll go.

It’s not quite as easy as that though … a nomination does not mean I’m definitely going (you can read the “App Process Explained” page for details on that). All it means is that they want me to continue in the process. The next step is medical clearance, which is quite the endeavor. I’ll be heading to the eye doctor, dentist, and general doctor for check ups and exams to prove I’m in good health. I might have to get fillings, new glasses, immunizations, special tests, etc. I may also have to go back to my therapist from years ago or previous doctors for additional information. The next four weeks or so are going to be quite busy.

If all checks out then I’ll be off to the Pacific Islands in October … worst case scenario, if things go too slowly or I have any medical issues that need to be dealt with, that location and date could be changed … but I’ll still make it into the Peace Corps sometime in the near future.

All in all, this is a decision I’m very excited to have made. It means a huge change for me, but it’s something I think I was meant to do. I’m more than happy to chat with anyone about the process, the program, or why I’m doing this! Feel free to read through any pages on this blog or any previous posts to see what the process has been like.

This is something I’ll keep up through my process as well as my service in the PC.

Nomination!!! Pacific Islands?!

Wow … another curve ball today … I guess being proactive and snooping around the sites for possible teacher training positions didn’t do me any good at all!

II received my nomination phone call at 11:08am this morning. After some brief introductions and an explanation as who why I don’t have enough qualifications for Youth Development (I’m okay with that; I’ve actually become okay with the teacher trainer idea) she proceeded to fill me in on the details of my nomination.

Teacher Trainer, Pacific Islands, Departure October 2010.

A few surprises there …

Teacher Trainer – not a surprise at all

Pacific Islands – big surprise … they had told me November so I concluded South America (Colombia) but was obviously wrong!

October leave date – bigger surprise … I thought November was early! October seems like tomorrow!

I’ve done a little research on staging dates and such and have figured out that I would be traveling to Tonga. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. In reality I’m thrilled for a nomination and two years in the Pacific Islands would be incredible! I’m only worried because I’m so connected with my family and such a remote location makes it difficult to have visitors or to visit home … something I feel like I need in order to make it through the entire 27 months. At the same time, there are amazing travel opportunities in the nearby areas and as I said, two years in the Pacific Islands is amazing!

So the process begins … medical is going to be insane. I have a number of medical issues that could also stop me from leaving in October, but hopefully those aren’t huge issues and I can get things going pretty quickly. With an October leave date, I need to move quickly to get all my appointments in and get everything cleared … good thing the school year is almost over! I’ll have tons of time to get those done.

Wow … I’m not quite sure how to feel right now!