Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Peace Corps - NOT!
I guess I haven't been on here in a while. Didn't join the Peace Corps. Moved to San Antonio to work for the Air Force instead.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
October Update
Hello everyone-
So my application is in and I am finishing up the assorted extra miscellaneous paperwork. I am going to get my fingerprints today so that I can have a background check! My interview is next Thursday the 25th.
My thesis is going ok - I have a partial draft in to my advisor and I have a committee all set. I should be having a committee meeting at the end of next month and then give my proposal talk at the beginning of December.
So that's all for now. Wish me luck in my interview!
Gen
So my application is in and I am finishing up the assorted extra miscellaneous paperwork. I am going to get my fingerprints today so that I can have a background check! My interview is next Thursday the 25th.
My thesis is going ok - I have a partial draft in to my advisor and I have a committee all set. I should be having a committee meeting at the end of next month and then give my proposal talk at the beginning of December.
So that's all for now. Wish me luck in my interview!
Gen
Update
September 25, 2007 - Tuesday
Update
So the first part of my application is done (thank you kenny), im just waiting for my boss to upload his recommendation so that I can actually submit it. Then it's on to the health portion of the application. I'm hoping for an interview at the next campus visit on Oct 24th.
the thesis is going slow - im so lazy! but I made some good progress tonight. I had a bad day yesterday, so I was motivated by my anger and strong desire to leave this job and this town.
anyway, have a happy tuesday everyone! oh and BTW, the cowboys are undefeated - yahooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
go yankees!
Update
So the first part of my application is done (thank you kenny), im just waiting for my boss to upload his recommendation so that I can actually submit it. Then it's on to the health portion of the application. I'm hoping for an interview at the next campus visit on Oct 24th.
the thesis is going slow - im so lazy! but I made some good progress tonight. I had a bad day yesterday, so I was motivated by my anger and strong desire to leave this job and this town.
anyway, have a happy tuesday everyone! oh and BTW, the cowboys are undefeated - yahooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
go yankees!
Peace Corps Update
September 3, 2007 - Monday
Peace Corps Update
Well I started the Peace Corps application a couple weeks ago. It's going to take some work to complete!
The hardest question so far is:
"As of the date of this application, do you have other financial obligations aside from student loans (including, but not limited to, a mortgage, credit card debt, taxes, car loan, alimony, child support)? If you do have student loan(s) and/or financial obligation(s), will they be paid in full, deferred, or otherwise fulfilled prior to your departure for Peace Corps training? If no, please describe your plans to satisfy the obligation while serving in the Peace Corps."
Anyone have an extra ten grand or so lying around?
Once I get throught the rest of the standard education and employment questions, I have to write a couple essays, then complete a medical application. Also need to get my boss and pastor to write me some recommendations.
Man, this is hard work! You'd think they actually want qualified people or something!
But thanks to all my friends who keep asking me about it and about how it's going, am I still gonna go, etc. It has been good motivation for me! I do really want to go still - it's scary / exciting, but that's a good thing! It's something I feel I have to do / am meant to do. I'm all done with classes now, so I just need to start (and finish) my master's project. I'm hoping to be done by March/April and leave the country in May (that's only 8 months!) Crazy!
Peace Corps Update
Well I started the Peace Corps application a couple weeks ago. It's going to take some work to complete!
The hardest question so far is:
"As of the date of this application, do you have other financial obligations aside from student loans (including, but not limited to, a mortgage, credit card debt, taxes, car loan, alimony, child support)? If you do have student loan(s) and/or financial obligation(s), will they be paid in full, deferred, or otherwise fulfilled prior to your departure for Peace Corps training? If no, please describe your plans to satisfy the obligation while serving in the Peace Corps."
Anyone have an extra ten grand or so lying around?
Once I get throught the rest of the standard education and employment questions, I have to write a couple essays, then complete a medical application. Also need to get my boss and pastor to write me some recommendations.
Man, this is hard work! You'd think they actually want qualified people or something!
But thanks to all my friends who keep asking me about it and about how it's going, am I still gonna go, etc. It has been good motivation for me! I do really want to go still - it's scary / exciting, but that's a good thing! It's something I feel I have to do / am meant to do. I'm all done with classes now, so I just need to start (and finish) my master's project. I'm hoping to be done by March/April and leave the country in May (that's only 8 months!) Crazy!
Peace Corps - The Beginning
April 1, 2007 - Sunday
Peace Corps - The Beginning
Well, this may be the start of something new. Read on to follow my train of thought.
I thought about joining the Peace Corps when I was younger - like in high school. That never happened - I wisely decided to get a college education. But the Peace Corps bug has got me again. I know I want to work in the developing world - that is my response to my spiritual belief system that says that I should help the poor. According to the world's standards, I am rich - very very rich. This makes me feel the need to use my resources to help the have nots. Anyway, in a year (if all goes according to plan) I will have a master's of public health. Some people tell me this is my opportunity to finally go make "the big bucks". Somehow, that doesn't appeal to me. I don't have any dream job in mind upon degree completion, I just know I don't want to keep doing what I am doing forever (hence getting the master's degree in the first place). And I do know that I want a change of scenery - Rochester winters are getting old.
But the one thing I do know is that I want to work in the developing world and the only way I know how to effectively do that is to live there. I'd feel artificial any other way - how can you really know the needs of a community unless you live there? But living in the developing world is a scary thought. This is when I came back to the Peace Corps idea. I wouldn't mind being a missionary, but the whole connotation of "missionary" rubs me the wrong way. Plus being a missionary has a wide range of possibilities and support systems (or lack thereof). The appeal of the PC is that it has been around for a long time, has three months of training and has a stable support system.
So last week I went to a PC info session at RIT. I learned that they give you language training, which I find really cool (not to mention really useful). In watching the video about PC volunteers all over the world, I kept thinking, I can see myself doing that. It seems to me that the experience that I have amassed thus far in my life makes me useful to the PC and the PC has the support system to give me the confidence and tools I need to succeed in this type of work. Plus, I have nothing holding me here (i.e. no children). The timing just seems right.
I am a bit apprehensive about the two year commitment - what if I am uncomfortable or homesick or whatever? I have decided to give my anxieties to God - if He wants me to do this, He won't give me anything I can't handle. So I am praying that God will guide me and tell me if this is what He wants me to do with the next phase of my life. I find it interesting that today is the start of holy week and I am starting down this path. I know a lot of my friends out there don't believe in all this Jesus mumbo-jumbo, but it's a big part of who I am. You can skip over the Jesus stuff if you want - I won't be offended. :)
So it looks like I am going to apply to the PC this summer for departure in May of 2008 after graduation. I will probably keep my eyes open for jobs and other opportunities during the application process, just in case I see something interesting. But the point of this blog is that if I do end up in the third world, I will want to blog what is going on for all my friends and family to read while I am away. So I decided to blog my PC thoughts and experiences from the very beginning.
So there it is - thanks for reading!
Peace Corps - The Beginning
Well, this may be the start of something new. Read on to follow my train of thought.
I thought about joining the Peace Corps when I was younger - like in high school. That never happened - I wisely decided to get a college education. But the Peace Corps bug has got me again. I know I want to work in the developing world - that is my response to my spiritual belief system that says that I should help the poor. According to the world's standards, I am rich - very very rich. This makes me feel the need to use my resources to help the have nots. Anyway, in a year (if all goes according to plan) I will have a master's of public health. Some people tell me this is my opportunity to finally go make "the big bucks". Somehow, that doesn't appeal to me. I don't have any dream job in mind upon degree completion, I just know I don't want to keep doing what I am doing forever (hence getting the master's degree in the first place). And I do know that I want a change of scenery - Rochester winters are getting old.
But the one thing I do know is that I want to work in the developing world and the only way I know how to effectively do that is to live there. I'd feel artificial any other way - how can you really know the needs of a community unless you live there? But living in the developing world is a scary thought. This is when I came back to the Peace Corps idea. I wouldn't mind being a missionary, but the whole connotation of "missionary" rubs me the wrong way. Plus being a missionary has a wide range of possibilities and support systems (or lack thereof). The appeal of the PC is that it has been around for a long time, has three months of training and has a stable support system.
So last week I went to a PC info session at RIT. I learned that they give you language training, which I find really cool (not to mention really useful). In watching the video about PC volunteers all over the world, I kept thinking, I can see myself doing that. It seems to me that the experience that I have amassed thus far in my life makes me useful to the PC and the PC has the support system to give me the confidence and tools I need to succeed in this type of work. Plus, I have nothing holding me here (i.e. no children). The timing just seems right.
I am a bit apprehensive about the two year commitment - what if I am uncomfortable or homesick or whatever? I have decided to give my anxieties to God - if He wants me to do this, He won't give me anything I can't handle. So I am praying that God will guide me and tell me if this is what He wants me to do with the next phase of my life. I find it interesting that today is the start of holy week and I am starting down this path. I know a lot of my friends out there don't believe in all this Jesus mumbo-jumbo, but it's a big part of who I am. You can skip over the Jesus stuff if you want - I won't be offended. :)
So it looks like I am going to apply to the PC this summer for departure in May of 2008 after graduation. I will probably keep my eyes open for jobs and other opportunities during the application process, just in case I see something interesting. But the point of this blog is that if I do end up in the third world, I will want to blog what is going on for all my friends and family to read while I am away. So I decided to blog my PC thoughts and experiences from the very beginning.
So there it is - thanks for reading!
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