Killer Cars

on my Peace Corps status. Or maybe not so quick.

I stalled on the “I’m going to tell my parents” phase longer than I imagined. Telling or explaining anything to them takes patience, analyzing, and good visual materials to help. Towards my greater luck, I left most of my materials back at school when I came home for spring break. But I found a federal job description on a government site that did the trick better than I could have. The printout had detailed qualifications, benefits, and a lengthy program overview of a Peace Corps volunteer.

My dad read it out loud word for word for my mom. I cut in many times to explain in my view what things meant. During the time, I was trying to catch how they felt. It was a longer 5 minutes than I imagined. After finishing, my dad seemed unenthusiastic about me living in conditions sub par compared to the states. I knew he would say something to the like but I reassured him that I could handle or do just about anything at my age. My mom looked at it in a way I never thought. She understood the qualifications and the experience as ’something people do after college’. While she is mostly right, and some people are in it for that, I was still shocked that she would happily send me off right away. The dad, was concerned about my financial well being, and getting a head start on the corporate ladder. Both things, I despise very much.

He’ll get over it soon. In the meantime, I joined a discussion group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peacecorps2/. It’s a great resource for current applicants, and I wish I had it sooner. On this board, I received a tip of where I might be going from another applicant. I won’t disclose it here, but of course I poured through hours of research in books in my excitement.

I had spoken with my medical placement officer, who forwarded my med forms to the Africa team, and mentioned I should hear from him at least by May. When I returned to school, I received an overnight FedEx letter that was dated from the week prior. I stared at it for moment, doubting that it would be my official invitation, but then I considered it was. The possibility of getting cleared, and the sendoff of my invitation rushed through my head. I carried all my bags with me along with the rest of my mail, and just stared at that FedEx envelope the whole length of the elevator trip back to my apartment. I settled into my room, ripped the package open. It was a formal letter and I got antsy for a moment. But the ants fell off when I realized it was a letter asking for more medical information. I was slightly relieved for that second, but now I know what it will feel like once I get my actual formal invitation. Just look for a big white FedEx envelope.

I followed up on that letter the next day. This morning (Wednesday) I received an e-mail indicating my application status has been updated for medical clearance. I double checked again online, and I kicked myself out of my chair. Medical Clearance was COMPLETE and required no further action. My co worker next to me was a little suprised how I can get so excited about anything at 8 o clock in the morning. Finally, a huge weight has been off my shoulders.

Looking back, it has only been 2 months since I have been rushing on the clearance. It somehow felt like 4, as if life was really moving slow for me. I considered dropping many many times, but all I needed was a little patience and some encouragement. I’m about 9/10ths of the way, and I’m just waiting for legal clearance (should be easy, I’m just a student with only 1 federal student loan) and then the last step, a formal invite. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, check out this award winning essay from Vanity Fair magazine from a current PC volunteer. Link via [Peace Corps News Releases]

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