I’m starting this blog as a way to keep everyone who would like to know up to date on what is going on in my life. A lot has been happening and the best is yet to come. I will be joining the Peace Corps and moving to Africa at the end of January. After an extensive application/interview/nomination process, I was finally invited to serve as a Rural Education Development (RED) volunteer in Zambia.
What that means (from Peace Corps Zambia Welcome Book):
RED Volunteers work in six provinces to support the Ministry of Education (MoE) staff to improve the quality of, and access to, education in all types of schools. Together with counterparts, Volunteers assist in implementing educational initiatives, zone-based teacher trainings and other continuing professional development opportunities, school monitoring visits, community literacy classes, and school clubs for HIV/AIDS, girls' empowerment, and environmental awareness. They also engage with interested rural communities to develop and support their education infrastructure through sensitization and training of parent- community school committees.
I have received a tremendous amount of support from my family and friends. My parents in particular have been amazing and helpful every step of the way. I also tend to get curious looks and the same question over and over again. Why do I want to join the Peace Corps? Why do I want to leave the comfort of everything that I know for 27 months in a third world country?
I’ll start by saying that I have no clue what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’ve had that same notion since graduating high school. I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of college other than a degree and a sense that I would be better suited for a career once I finished. As many of you know, I transferred between East Carolina and Penn State University a couple of times. I also changed my major a few times more than that. I finally decided to get my degree in communications because A) I would graduate within 4 years and B) communications is a solid foundation for any future endeavor I can think of.
I began seriously looking into the Peace Corps sometime during my junior year. First off, everything I’d learned about the Peace Corps had been positive and inspiring, and rightly so. But it was still at the time just a fun “what if” idea that I was kicking around. As it happened, I was taking a course in journalism and my professor mentioned one day that he was a returned Peace Corps volunteer so I took the opportunity to learn more from him. I had read a lot of in depth information about the organization and after I spent some time hearing about his service I could really see myself going for it.
Now, as far as my reasoning goes, I have this: I’m an adventurous girl as it is, with an over-active imagination, and I’ve always wanted to travel. My parents did their best to teach Brian, Stephanie and I to put the needs of others ahead of our own. Mom and Dad both truly lead by example every day. I possibly was a bit slow on the uptake, but I think I finally got it. So, as a young adult looking to utilize my education and my ideals, I decided to apply for the Peace Corps.
The application took me a couple of months to get through. It involves personal information, basically your entire background, official transcripts, loan information and a couple of essays. I finally submitted it sometime in December of my senior year and was certain that soon after graduation that May, I’d be on my way to a new country, a new culture, and a new way of life. Then I got my rejection letter. I was blindsided by the information that somewhere around 15,000 current applicants were competing for 3,700 available positions.
At that point I was low but still gearing up to graduate, so I found a great internship that would involve first hand experience in sales. I learned a lot from that internship but my most valuable lesson was that, although I applied myself, I did not enjoy that the work focused solely on the bottom line. And I confirmed to myself that I would not be looking for any “corporate America” jobs.
So I moved home, spent a little time job searching but more than anything I was soul searching. I had an idea of the direction that I wanted to go, so I continued looking for ways to travel and work within a non-profit organization. I was dreaming more than ever of the work I could be doing if I was a Peace Corps volunteer, so I decided, why not reapply and really dedicate myself to this dream. I went in for my second round of the application process, and this time I received a follow-up letter asking for my background check. At the time I had been travelling around quite a bit. I spent a few weeks with my friends in North Carolina followed by some time on my Aunt and Uncle’s horse ranch in Florida, which I had to cut short for an interview in NYC at Peace Corps headquarters.
Not long after that, I received my nomination to depart for Central or South America as a primary education volunteer. This was exactly what I had wanted! I had been studying Spanish for years and I couldn’t wait to become fluent in the language. The nomination came with a few requirements, so after I spent some time in Houston with my sister, I came home and got to work gaining experience as a teacher’s assistant in Media Elementary School while I earned my certificate to teach English as a foreign language.
After that I sent in my newly updated resume, and all that I had left to do was wait. I spent the summer with a good friend in Ocean City, NJ and had the time of my life down the shore. I got a phone call one day that turned out to be my informal invitation, asking me how I felt about Africa. I knew they probably wouldn’t be speaking much Spanish, but I was ecstatic to say the least and I accepted right away. My formal invitation soon followed, but the work hasn’t exactly slowed down since I officially accepted.
Today I got my final vaccination before my departure. I have a sore arm, but a renewed hope that everything I’ve been through will be worth it. I have been chatting through a Facebook group with my future Zambian counterparts and I feel such a sense of comradery with them already. I’m sure the next two months will fly by as I get everything I need together for my new adventure. It’s going to be one hell of a Christmas list, I can tell you that.
So, wish me luck as I prepare myself for this life changing experience and I hope to see all of my loved ones before I go. I will be posting throughout my 27 months abroad but hopefully, for everybody’s sake, it will not be as long as this one.
Happy Holidays!!
