It's official....

My Peace Corps application is now inactive. I had originally planned to go through with the interview, but I just gave up because I could not seem to connect with my recruiter via phone. I've decided to just go ahead with my new job and put in a few years with that agency, then go back and apply to the Peace Corps again. Like I told my recruiter in the email I sent, hopefully I'll be able to serve at that future date with a few more applicable job skills than I have now, and therefore be better able to serve PC and the community in which I'll be placed.

I'm still 100% determined to serve in the Peace Corps at some point. It's just worked out that I won't be doing it as soon as I'd originally hoped.

On the job front, everything's looking good. I completed the drug screening, the video based test/interview thingy, and the TON of paperwork that they sent me, so now I'm just waiting for the background investigation to clear. Reportedly, that can take from anywhere from a couple of months to close to a year or more. Of course, I'm hoping for the lesser time span. I'd love to go out there and start now, but I guess I'm going to have to patiently bide my time. Not my strong point, unfortunately.

Not sure what's going to happen...

On Wednesday, I got a package in the mail from a federal agency, saying that they were tentatively offering me a job, pending background clearance and drug testing, which will supposedly take at least 4 months. Now I'm completely conflicted about the Peace Corps. I still really want to do it, but this is federal employment, with all the benefits that come with it, and to top it off, it's a job at the GS-7 grade. That's higher than I thought I'd be able to get right away with any federal job (I've got more than enough education for that grade, but I lack a lot of hands-on experience in my field), and it means that I'll be making a pretty decent amount of money. And to be perfectly honest, that is extremely hard for me to turn down, since I have more debt than I'd like to think about at the moment.

What I'm considering is this: I want to go ahead and do my Peace Corps interview, regardless of what I decide, since there is a small risk that the federal position might fall through (very small risk, if they decide they don't like something in my background). If it doesn't, I really think I should take the federal job for at least a year or so, to get my time-in-grade and get all my debt paid off, save some money up, etc. Then reapply for the Peace Corps.

This has been really hard. I've been thinking my brain to mush ever since I opened the package on Wednesday. It's all making me realize that maybe, just maybe, there was a reason that my application to the Peace Corps has been going so roughly. Maybe, as much as I WANT to go, I'm just not MEANT to go. I would love to be in the Peace Corps, but I really don't think I could live with myself if I turned this job down.

Timeline as of now

• Contact details for recommendation providers DE and BF submitted to Peace Corps: 4/29/09
• Contact details for recommendation provider BR submitted: 5/4/09
  
• Application completed and submitted: 5/4/09
• Health status review submitted: 5/4/09
• Transcripts mailed: 5/5/09
• Rec #1 submitted by BR: 5/5/09
• Notarized financial obligations statement mailed: 5/11/09
• Packet with job descriptions, skills addenda, fingerprint forms, and background check stuff received: 5/11/09
• Packet completed and mailed: 5/13/09
• Requested 4th recommendation from RC *just in case*: 5/25/09
  
• Recs #2 and #3 submitted by DE and BF: 5/26/09

Now just waiting for an interview appointment and hoping that none of my stuff got lost in the mail. It would be just my luck. Everything's going slower than I had hoped, but slow and steady win the race, or so the saying goes.

Job descriptions

My recruiter sent me four different job descriptions in the packet I got. Animal husbandry, community services, secondary science teaching, and protected areas management. I'm most interested in the last one, since I think it will best utilize my degrees. I have a lot of teaching experience, though, so I might get stuck teaching science. I hope not, though. To be quite honest, I don't want to join the Peace Corps to teach. I can stay here and do that. I want to use my undergraduate degree (wildlife and fisheries science, concentration in conservation biology), and I don't have a lot of opportunities here to do that, as most places want you to already have lots of practical experience.

Don't get me wrong, teaching isn't a BAD job, it's just not the one I would most like to have at this point. I think I could be better utilized by working with parks/wildlife, so I'm hoping that will be the one I will get nominated for. The animal husbandry stuff is a bit of a reach for me. I took a small animal care class in high school and was a member of Future Farmers of America for a while back then, plus my dad is a veterinarian, but other than that I don't really have any experience in husbandry. Community services? No clue, unless it's something related to the environment, like eco-tourism. Other than those, I figure I could possibly be qualified for forestry or agriculture and forestry extension, since I have had some plant classes. Who knows, though. Guess I'll find out when I eventually have my interview.

I filled out all the skills addenda and the background check form and I got my fingerprints taken today, so I went ahead and mailed everything. I'd mailed off my transcripts and my notarized financial statement the other day, and I didn't have the name of my recruiter yet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they actually get to his desk. Hopefully I will be good to go as soon as my other recommendations come in. Which reminds me, I need to email my recruiter. My Tool Kit is still showing that 0 of 3 recommendations have come in, even though I know one was filled out and submitted about 10 days ago. Hopefully that will be updated soon.

Got my packet!

I was out of town for a few days and just got back today. The very first thing I did was check my mail. I got two envelopes from the Peace Corps. The smaller of the two had my log-in information for the Peace Corps Toolkit, the online program where you can monitor your status, documents, required information, etc. The other envelope was a package of documents, including fingerprint charts, background check form, and about five different job descriptions with skills addenda that I have to fill out and mail in. I'm only interested in maybe one or two of the types of jobs and I think those are the ones that I'm best qualified for, anyway. The big envelope also had a letter in it, asking me to call the recruiter and set up an interview, so I'll be doing that this week.

On another note, I need to talk to my recommendation providers, since I'm still waiting on two of the three. I don't think it's a huge problem, though, as this last week was final exam week at my university, so they were both probably swamped.

Submitted!

I asked my final recommendation-provider this morning and added her info to the application. That was the last thing I had to do before submitting, so I'm on my way! I submitted the application and the health review, so now all I have to do is get my transcripts mailed off and hope my references send off their stuff soon. And then the wait shall begin!

Lots of info available out there!

It's fairly easy to find information about the Peace Corps, for the most part. I guess most future PCVs have basically the same questions. There's a lot of helpful sites out there, especially the PeaceCorps2 yahoo group (the files section, in particular), the Peace Corps Wiki, and the Peace Corps Journals website. Almost every question I could think of has been answered at some point on those pages. Those of you who are considering applying, my advice is to read, read, and read some more! Especially the journals, since that gives you a real look into the lives of people that are placed in different areas of the world. It's eye-opening, in some cases. It definitely takes the romanticism out of the Peace Corps, lol!

[Edited to add: I'm learning the hard way that some of the sites are better than others for newbies to ask questions. Just from general posts made at the Yahoo group and replies to questions I've asked at that site, there are a few people there who apparently consider any new person looking into volunteering to be quite stupid and treat their questions as such. It's rather off-putting and disheartening, especially if you're wanting to get fresh input and ideas instead of just reading 5-year-old entries that only vaguely answer your questions. The resources in the files section of the site are quite good, but any new possible applicant should, in my opinion, direct their questions to the Peace Corps Folks live journal (see the PC links section of my blog) instead of the PeaceCorps2 Yahoo group. There are some really nice people at the Yahoo group, but the bad apples can definitely make potential or new applicants feel unwelcome.]

I've read about giant bugs, pit latrines, bucket baths, parasites, anti-malarial side effects, etc., and I'm not scared off yet! The only issue I'm still not 100% clear on is how debt is handled, if you can't get it completely paid off before you leave. That, unfortunately, will probably be the position I'll be in, as I have several thousand dollars of debt right now. I'm going to try to get as much as I can paid before I go, but there will probably be at least some left to pay. I'm relatively certain that my folks will help me out with it. It's kind of shameful to admit, but my dad's been trying to bribe me to finish grad school by saying they'll help buy me a new car; the family jokes that I'm in the 4th year of a 2-year program (not exactly true, and not entirely my fault, but that's a gripe for another blog). I'm hoping that they'll help me pay it off and then let me repay them after I get a job post-PC, instead of trying to get a deferral or paying tiny amounts with advances from the readjustment payment (I've heard you can do that, but I'm not 100% sure).

In any case, I guess it's a good thing that the posts for the first half of 2010 are supposedly already filling up, as I need all the time I can get to pay off as much debt as possible. It'd make more sense, I suppose, to put off joining the Peace Corps, but everything else is pointing at this being the right time for me. I guess I'll just see how it goes and keep my fingers crossed.