January 21, 2010
I saw an email for the University of Washington Career Fair on January 21st. I thought; sure; I'll go and walk around and pick up some free giveaways. Little did I know that day would change the course of 2010 and my life forever. I walked by the Peace Corps table and paused to talk to the recruiters from the Seattle Peace Corps Office. I’ve had a desire to join The Peace Corps since I studied Human Rights at UW.
January 22nd - March 24
I believe I was there at the UW career fair on January 21st to pick up information about the Peace Corps for a reason. I spent the next few weeks praying, talking with friends and reflecting upon the opportunity to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After thoughtful consideration I felt that God was calling me to serve in this capacity at this time in my life. I was immediately drawn to the health education program. I approached several wonderful friends and mentors for recommendations and began the application process. Thanks Larry, Cathy, Anita, and Amanda!
Wednesday, March 24
My interview in Seattle with a Regional Recruiters in Seattle occurred on March 24th. During the interview; I was asked questions about my ability to adapt to different food and living conditions, lack of privacy, isolation, prescribed gender roles, and minority challenges. I remember being really nervous, but preparation in advance allowed me to draw on examples from my time abroad in India and other past travel and work experiences.
March 25 “ You were nominated on March 25, 2010!” What a great message to see on the application status website.
May 28, 2010 "Peace Corps sent you an invitation kit on May 28, 2010." Super exciting day!
Tuesday June 1, 2010
Okay, it’s 3:42 pm Tuesday June 1, 2010. I really want it to be 5pm so I can leave and go home to open the Peace Corps envelope that my mom informed me just arrived. The minutes of the computer clock are going by slower than usual.
The previous Friday I was told by my placement coordinator that I will be leaving to go to a country in Sub-Saharan Africa some time in the middle of July. And that I should start learning French. Being the detective that I am I immediately went to the Peace Corps website that has a map of all the countries that currently have open programs, googled African countries where French is the primary language, and cross referenced the two. It only took a couple minutes to realize that my efforts to guess are futile in nature and that I wouldn’t be able to guess the name of the country. I spent the weekend making a list of things I knew would need to be done between June 1st and the middle of July. I loaded a couple French Apps on my I-Phone. I figured I would begin by learning a few greetings.
5:45pm
Of course this had to be the day that my bus got caught in really heavy traffic? I was speechless when I saw my country assignment. MADAGASCAR; like the movie? I spent the next few hours pouring through all the instructions about working in Madagascar, getting my passport and visa, packing, ect. The list of things to complete in the next month and a half seemed enormously long
June 2nd, 2010
I've accepted the offer. My life is now changed forever.
June 5th, 2010
Happy 26th birthday to me! I figured I would wait until my family members were happily eating cake to tell them of my plans to leave for 27 months. Surprise!
