Well, here I am!
So Writing an introduction to this Blog is probably one of the hardest things I have to do. It will be the first thing you read about me, at least for a while - until I will have some more juicy stories from some far away village on the other side of the world...
I will do my best to give you the impression of me I would like you to have, yet I am certain that if you wont get to know me at least you will get a few good laughs and some interesting info about the PC (Peace Corps).
My first and foremost promise on this blog will be to be honest to myself, and to you (the reader) when posting. This means that when things are happy and pretty you will read happy posts, and when things get rough (which I am certain they will. many times), you will read about that too.
I guess my goals for publishing this blog is:
To have an online documentation of my experiences
To give my readers an imparcial, honest and realistic view of my experience
And to network and receive comments or question regarding my blog or anything else.
So the first question you probably have is regarding my status.
I figured I should also add the timeline for reference of others who are going through the process.
Jan 30, 2006 - Completed Application Online.
- Application took me about 2 months to complete since I had trouble collecting all of those
specific 3 references (work supervisor, volunteer supervisor, friend).
Feb 3, 2006 - Got an email from my recruiter (Josh Strauss) with a welcome message.
- He stated that a packet was sent to me with some forms that need to be completed and sent
back to him.
March 7, 2006 - My recruiter received the packet.
- He emailed me to confirm everything was in order and to schedule an appointment.
March 23, 2006 - Interview with recruiter
- My interview went pretty well, I prepared by reading some of the sample questions that were
posted on Yahoo! Groups: Peacecorps2 (by the way, this is a great forum filled with some very
useful information!!!). I made sure I retained my personality and stayed true to myself while
being interviewed. My recruiter was very nice and typed all of my answers to his laptop. At
the end of the interview he made it clear that he is confident in nominating me, however, there
were not many open program in which I qualify for. He said he can try to nominate me for this
one program teaching secondary school English, and since I was so excited to be nominated, I
agreed. The next day I got an email with the offer...which you can probably tell, I wasn't too
excited about. He wanted to nominate me for Eastern Europe/Central Asia, departing in
July/August 2006. This was the only region I was really hoping NOT to be assigned to! As
most applicants, I was hoping for a Latin America nomination, which quickly turned into a very
slim chance. At that point I actually didn't care where I will be, just not there. One might
wonder what is the reason for the strong reaction, so let me explain: first, the cold weather. If
you think that this is not a reason enough, I disagree. I am not trying to be spoiled or picky
about the weather, I just know myself and the way I function when its really cold. That region
has some very cold winters and I didn't want to suffer for 27 months! The other reason, which
some of you may find more appealing, is the fact that many countries in that region are
predominantly Muslim. Being Jewish, I felt as I might feel animosity towards me. As I said
before, I believe in staying true to yourself, and I didn't want to put myself in a situation where I
would feel I have to hide my identity. I know I might sound racist, or like I over reacted, but
the truth is that I feel like a volunteer should feel happy upon nomination, and that one should
follow his/her own instincts when it comes to accepting them. I just didn't feel like I have a
connection to that area, and in order to give of myself I have to make sure I am somewhat
comfortable with my surroundings. So moving on...I declined the nomination with the following
email, that was send to my recruiter on March 26:
Dear Recruiter,
Thank you for getting back to me so soon. The entire weekend I have been thinking and thinking and thinking. I started evaluating my willingness and determination to fulfill this goal of mine, and there is no doubt in my mind I am ready to conquer the challenge. However, I have been also researching the region you gave me and realized that many countries residing in that part of the world are predominantly Muslim. I expressed my concerns in the interview regarding being placed in a country where I might feel animosity towards me due to my background.
I am very eager to join with a positive mindset and make sure I will be able to complete my 27 months of service. Therefore, I don't want to jump on the first opportunity I get just to leave the country. I have a goal to help people and I want to make sure I am able to complete it to the best of my ability. I have no desire to join the PC just in order to travel or get a free ticket to an unknown destination. I know that joining the PC means being faced with some very difficult challenges, and not feeling comfortable in my placement might add to the complexity. I just don't feel like I can give 100% of myself at a place that I might not feel comfortable. I rather wait until more options open up and possibly be placed in a region where I will feel more comfortable. I realize I am risking not being nominated for a while, and that there is no guarantee that a program I am qualified for will open up. I also realize that leaving in the middle of service is not an option for me, since I will not commit to a challenge I cannot complete.
I want to thank you for being confident enough in my abilities to nominate me, and I hope that declining this nomination will not give you a negative outlook on my willingness to join. I know that there is still a big chance I will get nominated to the same region after waiting for new programs to open up, but I guess I rather give myself one more option before accepting a challenge that I know will change my life forever.
At least now I know that even if I will never be nominated to any assignments in the future, I will definitely have the answer to the question "What was the most difficult decision you have even made?"
I will keep in touch until you will ask me to stop calling/emailing, just to make sure you remember that there is a young woman here in New York that has a whole lot to give. I will be open to do any extra training/volunteer work/ language coaching in order to qualify for a different program.
So my heart felt letter worked, and after receiving an email back giving me another day to think about it, my recruiter asked me to contact him towards the end of April for new program options. A few days later, to my pleasant surprise, he emailed me again with an interesting offer. He offered to nominate me into the "Pilot Program." This program allows you to go through medical and legal clearance without a specific nomination. In other words, you are nominated into a pool. After completing medical and legal, you get invited. It sounded interesting and I decided to accept the offer.
April 3, 2006 - I got nominated in to the "Pilot Program", My Toolkit officially says "Nominee"!!!
April 11, 2006 - Medical Kit has been sent to me.
April 16, 2006 - received Medical Kit
So, this is where my timeline ends for now...I have all of my medical appointments scheduled for later this week, and I'm hoping to sent it off by Friday. Another tip I got at Peacecorps2 group is not to sent it via USPS but rather use UPS or Fedex.
