Application through Nomination

I started my journey towards a peace corps invitation in the fall of 2009. I finished my application in March of 2010. But the tricky part about the whole thing, independent of whether I get invited or not, has been waiting for information. After I applied, I interviewed with a recruiter who then nominated me. As part of the deal, I had to obtain 30 hours of ESL tutoring experience. From June to August I tutored people in English and by the first couple of weeks in September, I had surpassed the required thirty hours. Looking back on it now, volunteering for thirty hours was the easy part. Over those same months, I also completed the medical and dental paperwork. I had to get an in depth physical and the required blood tests. I also had to get various vaccinations. After I submitted the paperwork, it took about a month for it to be processed. I have now been medically cleared to serve if I am invited. When they were done, the medical office passed my file along to the placement office who will determine if I am competitive and suitable enough to receive an invitation. According the to the website, 8000 people are nominated and 5000 are invited. Hopefully, I will not be in the third of people who do not receive invitations. I have spent hours tutoring people in English, including someone who did not know how to read, and I think the hardest part of the whole process has been waiting for the placement office to decide one way or another. I knew I would get the necessary thirty hours, and I knew I would be medically cleared. Since I don't really know the background of the people I am competing against or the background of those who have not received invitations in the past, I have no way of determining the probability of being invited. So, the next month or the next months will probably be the hardest part of the whole process. I am sure if I get invited, serving overseas will be much more challenging, but as someone who likes to be able to plan, not being able to plan my future because I don't know where I will be in six months is difficult. It is hard to be motivated to find a full time job because I might be leaving the country soon, while at the same time it is hard to be content at the job I have because if I am not going to be leaving the country, I ought to be looking more carefully for suitable employment, despite the poor economy. I figured I'd start my peace corps blog now, in case I do get invited. Hopefully I'll be able to post good news soon.

-Courtney