Surprise!!!

Again it has been three months since I last posted, because there have been very few updates. In mid-May I had been told that I should receive my invitation by the end of June, but that month came and went with not a word from Peace Corps. I wrote to them on July 1 of course and received somewhat of a crushing response. My provisional departure date had been moved back from September 2013 to January 2013 because the original program I was allotted a space in had been filled. I was told that I should receive my invitation in September. More waiting...

On August 7, I got an email from my placement officer introducing herself and saying that the Peace Corps is considering placing me in a group that would leave sometime between January and June 2014. I cringed at the thought of even having to wait until June 2014. I filled out the short paperwork needed confirming that my legal, medical, and financial situations had not changed since my applications and affirmed that I am willing to serve wherever the Peace Corps decides to assign me.

Wherever...right? Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, yeah, wherever! Well, SURPRISE!!!

To be continued...

Waiting game...

It has been three months since I last wrote here, but I still really have no update! This has been a much more stressful waiting game than I ever imagined. Lots of people told me that there would be a lot of waiting in between hearing from the Peace Corps, but the time goes so much more slowly when so many variables in your life are waiting on receiving a letter in the mail! As my tentative departure month (September) is now four months away, I couldn't wait any longer. I wrote to my interviewer today, as I haven't yet heard from a placement specialist, to ask if there is any update on my status. I'll keep you updated!

One update regarding my medical status is that after going to the oral surgeon in February, I was informed that I do not actually need to remove my wisdom teeth. Hopefully my dentist will just sign off on that when I return for my dental check-up in a few months.

Legally cleared!

It appears that another small hurdle in the application process has been completed. I just found out that I have been legally cleared. This means that my next task will be getting medical clearance.

After receiving my nomination at my interview on January 24, I anxiously waited a week until I received my legal packet on January 31. I immediately filled out the information card for the FBI background check. I wanted to keep the process moving, so I snuck out of the office the next day, February 1, to get my fingerprints taken at a fingerprinting/notary public office a block away from the White House. It was a quick, funny $25 experience, as I had never had my fingerprints taken other than in elementary school for the police to have on record in case they needed to put my face on a milk carton. I immediately FedExed the completed legal documents back to Peace Corps. (Oddly, I found out that for a FedEx package to go 10 blocks in downtown DC, it has to go overnight to the FedEx sorting plant in Memphis!)

I just checked on the Peace Corps portal this evening and saw that my status had been updated on February 11 that I was legally cleared! Now I have to wait patiently for my medical package to arrive. I already have my wisdom teeth extraction consultation scheduled for February 19 and the surgery for February 28.

Interview...check!

Wow, so the past 3 weeks have gone really quickly, and I feel as though I've made a good deal of progress on my Peace Corps application in a pretty short amount of time. After I was contacted on January 4 to get my recommendations in, I immediately reached out to my listed recommenders to make sure they were still able to complete the recommendations. Two recommendations (peer and work supervisor) were submitted the same day. My volunteer supervisor was out of the country, but he was able to complete the recommendation form a week later on January 11. As soon as he did so, I wrote to Peace Corps assessment specialist to let him know that everything had been submitted. I was informed that same day that I was being passed on to a recruiter for the next step -- the interview. My recruiter contacted me on January 16 to suggest some interviews dates and times, and we decided on January 24 at 10:00 a.m. at the Peace Corps headquarters in DC.

I read a number of blogs and advice pages on what to expect at the interview. The questions on the Peace Corps Wiki (http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Interview_Questions) were essentially verbatim examples of what I was asked by my recruiter. The interview was a very comfortable experience, as I had prepared to some extent answers to each questions so I wouldn't be taken aback by anything. My recruiter was very friendly and open about her experience with Peace Corps as well, so I was able to hold a real dialogue with her rather than just rattle off some questions. At the end of the interview, she said that she was going to formally nominate me, and I got an email about two hours later saying that I had been nominated to move forward in the process and that my tentative assignment is education in a Spanish speaking country leaving in September 2013! That is exactly when I would like to leave, so my fingers are crossed that everything will work out well!

Here we go!

I can already tell that this application process is going to be a major part of my life for the next few months! I got my first email from Peace Corps staff this morning saying that I had passed the initial screening and would soon be contacted about transcripts (done!), financial obligations (free as a bird!), and recommendations. I heard within my minutes from my recommenders that they had received the recommendation forms. By the end of the day, two had been completed, but unfortunately, my third recommender is out of the country for more than a week, so I'm not sure when all of my recommendations will be complete. I'm really going to be diligent about trying to speed along the process as much as possible by helping out those who are helping me. Hopefully I'll be able to update next week that all of my recommendations have been completed and that  I've spoken with the Assessment Specialist.

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm launching this blog to start documenting my Peace Corps application process, mostly for myself at first, since I won't know for a few months whether I'm officially going to be a Peace Corps volunteer. I'm starting off the year productively, and I've finished my initial online application and submitted it this morning.

At this point, I'm prepared for a few months of doctor visits, forms, interviews, and waiting a lot! Just got nervous reading another Peace Corps volunteer's application timeline because of how long it took her (and realized that I may have to get my wisdom teeth removed!). I don't anticipate having any medical complications, which are what typically delay the final invitation to become a Peace Corps volunteer.

I'll be updating this blog regularly throughout my application process, and hopefully by this summer I'll have actually interesting updates that people will want to read!