Medically Cleared

I sent my medical kit through Fed-Ex on Tuesday April 4th and my online toolkit stated that PC received my medical packet on Monday April 10th. I have read that it often takes 4-8 weeks for medical clearance so I was nervous if I would receive medical clearance in time for my July nomination.

I just checked the online toolkit and found out that PC medically cleared me on Thursday April 20th. That's right...in just 10 days!! I am so excited and feeling like things are falling into place.

I am simply waiting on dental clearance (I had to resubmit after denist signed paperwork stating that cavity had been filled). I know that dental clearance doesn't stop you from getting invite so I'm just glad that medical clearance is done and the placement office now has my file in front of them. Now I just need to sit back and wait on that big invite packet to come in the mail. I think that's when it will really feel real. I'll know for certain where and when I'll be going!

Telling Family About PC

Okay, so if I plan to do this whole PC thing I need tell my close family and friends....

I told my brother Charlie, my friend Tyler, and my friend Rachel in February, shortly after attending the information session, completing the application, and having the interview. Not wanting to get too excited as I was only in the first stages of the process, yet still wanting to share my excitement of idea of PC with a few people. Charlie and Tyler both thought it was an awesome experience and were very encouraging. Rachel laughed and said she remembered me talking about it high school - I knew that I had thought about PC for a long time but I didn't remember actually saying it outloud to a high school friend.

I received a nomination the first week of March for a Math Resource Education Position in Africa leaving July so I then realized that I would need to sit down and tell my parents, as July was only four months away. I was a little scared to tell them mainly because I was afraid they'd think I was crazy. They actually responded very well to the news. They asked a lot of good questions as well some silly ones (as you can guess that would be mom would came up with those ones). It seemed like very time I was on the phone with them, they'd be asking more questions and basically just trying to get more information.

Currently I am in the process of going through medical clearance and of course the next step is to receive an invitation. I decided that it might be a good idea to tell some of my extended family as July is quickly approaching. I thought about telling my grandma or one of my aunts, however I wanted to be the one to tell people so decided that I'd announce it mid-April at Easter dinner. I think my Aunt Laura and Aunt Marsha asked a lot of good questions. I think I caught Grandma Margaret off guard as she asked if it was a 3 month program. Lacey had told me that she thought it was an awesome opportunity, however she is an international business major so I would expect that of her. I can understand that it can be a lot to take in when you first hear it - only months away in July, a 27 month program, and the idea of being in Africa. The room was a little quiet as I don't think they knew what to say at first. I shared some stories about some returned volunteers as well shared the "use left hand only" stories which helped to lighten the mood. So the ice is broken and they now know my plans of joining the PC.

The HUGE Medical Packet

I received the HUGE medical packet March 9th and picked up the phone the following Monday to make doctors appointments. I had already gone to dentist to have cleaning and cavities filled, as I knew that I would need a clean cavity free mouth to be accepted. I went to family doctor to have routine physical, went hospital to have about 8 tubes of blood drawn for tests, went to health department for TB test, and back to the family doctor to fill in the PC medical form. I then had to simply drop off forms to dentist and eye doctor. I decided to have wisdom teeth out before sending in medical kit so that I wouldn't get deferred when they saw x-ray with impacted bottom wisdom teeth. The whole process of having everything checked, tested, test results back, and forms filled out took about four weeks. I sent my completed medical, dental, and vision packet to PC Headquarters in Washington D.C. via Fed-Ex on April 4th. My toolkit on PC web site was updated on Friday April 7th stating they had received my medical packet and that my file was being reviewed. I've read that medical clearance typically is 4-8 weeks, however heard that some people are medically cleared in 2-3 weeks. I'm only at the one week marker right now so I haven't hit that impatient stage where I want to call the PO (Placement Officer) yet. However I realize that with a July nomination that it is crucial that I get medical cleared fairly quickly. I'm hoping to end clearance by the end of April or very beginning of May so that perhaps I can have invitation by mid-May.

Application Process Begins

In January 2006 I began to fill out the online PC application. It was quite in depth so I did small parts off and on for a few weeks. During this time I also updated my resume and wrote two essays as part of the application. I submitted my completed application on January 20, 2006. I also had to decide who I would have write me recommendations. This was a little tricky because once again I was just in the beginning stage of the process. It still seemed far fetched and I didn't want to get my hopes up or really have a lot of people know that I was seriously thinking
about PC. I decided to have two teachers that I currently worked with, my principal, and a professor from grad school. My recruiter (Katie) emailed me a few days after my application was submitted online and told me that she would be interviewing at University of Cincinnati and Xavier University campus the second week of February. So I had preliminary phone interview on February 3rd with Katie, attended an evening information session at UC on February 7th where I met Katie and other return volunteers, and had in person interview on February 9th at XU. Following the interview, I had additional paperwork (FBI fingerprints, student loan deferment forms, education/volunteer experience addendum, resume, etc). Once all references had submitted recommendations and I had completed forms, I was received an email from Katie on February 28th asking if I would be interested in a math resource/secondary education position in Africa leaving in July. I was amazed at how quick the process was going. It sounded like the perfect fit...at the end of the school year, education related and more of a training/leadership position rather than simply being a teacher, and of course the whole Africa thing fits the picture of what most people have in their head of what PC is. So I emailed her right back to tell her that I would accept the nomination. About a week later, I received the official nomination as well as the HUGE medical packet.

Just Thinking About It

So I've been thinking about the whole Peace Corps thing for a long time. I remember hearing about it in middle school and thinking in the back of my head that it sounded kind of interesting. I first began to really research Peace Corps my first year of college after taking a cultural anthropology class and a service learning class. I remember in the anthropology class my first quarter of college reading a whole book on the Ju'hoansi people. They were hunter-gather people who lived in parts of Nambia, Botswana,Zambia, Angola, and other parts of southern Africa. I was so fascinated that these people still lived like this. There were lots of different cultures that we studied and it really started to open my eyes a little more as to what else is out there and how different other parts of the world are. My second quarter of college I took a service learning class where I met Kori. She was my volunteer leader who set up my group's volunteer site at a local elementary school for tutoring. Kori also got me interested in Big Brothers Big Sisters and other community organizations. She was in AmeriCorps and spoke very highly of the program. I began researching AmeriCorps and as a result came back to thinking about Peace Corps again.

Meanwhile, I realized that I was only 18 and had to stay focused my college education. I think when I really started to think about PC again more seriously was my senior year of college. I was about to graduate and was still waiting to see if I got into grad school. I remember telling myself that if I didn't' get into grad school that I was going to apply for PC. I did get into the grad school so I put PC on the back burner. However, 14 months later as I was finishing my master's and trying to find a teaching position, I began to think about PC once again. However, I did find a teaching position teaching sixth grade math, which I had done two student teaching placements in so I felt it was a perfect fit.

My first two years of teaching had ups and downs, as all new things do. I was able to try out many of the teaching strategies that I had learned about in college on real kids in a real classroom of my own. I was able to experience what it felt like to be responsible for real kids' learning while feeling the pressure from statewide testing. I was able experience what it feels like to be a room with thirty 11-12 year old kids and be the only adult :) I learned that I thought I had a lot of patience, but now had the opportunity to practice that patience even more. I was able to work with some of the most amazing educators who I know I will long remember as people who helped shape me as a teacher and as a person. I was able to work with a diverse group of kids. The socioeconomic range of the kids I worked with was interesting - some kids had next to nothing while the kid sitting next to him would be talking about his latest luxery vacation. Some kids had so much support from their families while other kids it seemed had little or no support from their families. I guess I knew that it was like that but it was very frustrating to not have control or be able to help more. In many ways I entered teaching hoping to "make a difference". After two years I realize that my goal shouldn't be so broad. Instead it should simply be to let kids know that I do care and that I want them to be successful in school and in life. In the context of a school, I think its easy to lose sight that that should be the ultimate goal. I learned that kids and people in general are really all the same - they want someone to listen to them and care about them. In many ways I questioned myself and my abilities. Part of that I think is due to lack of experience -lack of teaching experience, lack of my own life experiences, and lack of my understanding of the community that I was teaching in.

This is when I began to think about Peace Corps very seriously. I remember over the holiday break of my second year of teaching reading and researching PC online and reading several books from the public library. That's when I decided that I would apply. I really felt that PC would give me an opportunity, over two years that is, to really learn about other people, learn about myself, and better understand what direction I want to take with my career/life.