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.
Some thoughts on the Kony 2012 campaign
14 years ago
