My Peace Corps Timeline
This timeline isn't complete, so I'll try to fill in gaps at some point. I kept pretty good track of things at the beginning as they happened, but after I was nominated and invited, I just got too busy to keep track of dates!September, 2003 - I talked to the Peace Corps recruiter when he was at the Union at a booth. I was interested, but didn’t consider it seriously. I had just gotten back from studying in Germany and knew I had quite a while still before I would graduate.
Sometime between September 2003 and September 2004 - I talked to a bunch of other students and professors about Peace Corps, trying to decide if I should apply. I decided at one point that Peace Corps absolutely was not for me, and I put it out of my mind for a long time.
September, 2004 - Sometime early in the month I finally decided to apply for Peace Corps.
September 22, 2004 - Peace Corps had a booth up in the Union today, so I stopped by and picked up the application. Peace Corps had an informational presentation at the Student Union tonight, and my dad went with me. I think he feels more comfortable with the whole idea of me applying now.
October, 2004 - I tried to get my application in at the beginning of the month, but more and more things kept on creeping up that had to be done. The application took so much work!
October 20, 2004 - I sent my application in today.
October 22, 2004 - I received an email stating that my application has been received at the Denver Regional Office. The email says my application is being reviewed, and I should receive a letter regarding the review in about two weeks.
October 28, 2004 - Received packet in the mail requesting more information: identity check papers, fingerprints, skills addendums, and reference forms. Also received job descriptions for jobs I qualify for: secondary education, community service, health extension, and urban youth development. I started working on addendums. The letter instructs me to call my recruiter immediately, so I will tomorrow.
October 29, 2004 - Called my recruiter to talk about my application. I mentioned that I had hoped to get my application in in time to have my interview when she was next in town (the next week). She suggested we go ahead and have the interview, so we set it up for Tuesday, Nov. 2.
November 2, 2004 - I had my interview. There was some confusion, because my recruiter actually forgot about our appointment. Luckily I was able to catch her at another scheduled event on campus, and we rescheduled for later in the day. During the interview, she didn’t says specifically “I am nominating you,” but she basically told me once my references are in, she will sit down and look everything over. Then she will call me with three general choices about the job, country, and approximate date of departure. Things are looking good.
November 10, 2004 - My recruiter called today to ask about my references. I think she might have possibly forgotten that I had told her at the interview that I was just waiting on getting them and I would send them later. It’s a good sign she’s already been looking over my application though!
November 15, 2004 - I sent my references today
November 16, 2004 - When I got home from work there was a message on my machine from my recruiter. She’s found a job possibility for me!! Secondary English teaching in Eastern Europe/Central Asia leaving July 14 or September 30, 2005. I tried to call her back, but she didn’t answer. I’ll call tomorrow!
November 17, 2004 - I called my recruiter today. She explained a bit more about the job possibility she had found, and asked if that sounded good to me. I had been having some hesitations Eastern Europe though. I guess since I’ve already lived in Europe, I was just hoping for something a little bit more different. I explained that I’ve been doing all the reading up on Peace Corps that I can, and the more I read about Asia, the more interested in that area I’m becoming. So right there on the phone, she called up the database of jobs and found one! It’s a secondary teaching position in villages, towns, or rural areas in Asia/Central Asia. The job also involves integrating marginalized groups, environmental awareness, and informal teacher training. It leaves just a bit sooner than the other job. It sounds perfect!! So, Clara asked me if I wanted that one, and I said yes!! She will send me the official nomination letter soon, and then all the medical exams can begin.
November 18, 2004 - I got an email from Peace Corp saying my application status had changed, and when I logged on, it said “Congratulations! You have been nominated to serve in the Peace Corps.” Woohoo! There’s a bunch more stuff on the website that I can access more. I’m so excited, but I have to keep reminding myself – this does not mean I will get accepted. I’m being nominated, but I won’t know if I am technically accepted until I clear all the medical and legal stuff.
December 5, 2004 - I received my medical packet in the mail today. Unfortunately it couldn’t have come at a worse time! I’m coming up on my last week of college classes, and graduation is next weekend! I may not have time to act on anything until I’m done with school, but we’ll see.
Jan-Feb 2005 - Worked on getting all of my medical exams completed. I had to go to the optometrist and dentist twice each to get all the paperwork correctly completed, and I went to the doctor’s office a total of six times!
February 18, 2005 - Finally got all my paper work for the medical packet done, and I sent the packet today.
February 27, 2005 - I received an email today telling me my status online has been changed. My toolkit says now that my dental clearance is complete and that there are no dental holds on my account. My medical clearance is still on hold, and in fact it says online that they haven’t yet received my medical exam, but considering I sent my dental and medical exam papers together, I know they have the medical part.
((Some things are missing from this time period. I'll add when I can.))
April 22, 2005 - After I got back from lunch at work today, there was a message on my phone from my mom saying the Placement Officer had called me at home! I tried calling her back, but she wasn’t in the office so I left a message. After about 30 agonizing minutes (I was so nervous my hands were shaking!), she called me back. She said right away she wasn’t calling with the actual invitation, but said that I had passed the (something or other) review. She had a few options for me. They don’t normally give people options with their placement, but this was a special case since one of the options was to leave before the timeframe Peace Corps had given me. That one is for the Caucuses region leaving June 13! My other options were Eastern Europe (but they already knew I wasn’t so interested in Eastern Europe, so they didn’t go into detail about it), Asia leaving in August, or Central Asia leaving in September. She realized this phone call threw me off guard and that it was a lot to think about, so she said I could call her back on Monday. It wasn’t until after I got off the phone with her that I realized that I am supposed to be in the wedding of my old high school friend at the end of June. I think I will tell my Placement Officer on Monday that I cannot do a June departure and that I would most prefer the Asia placement.
April 23, 2005 - I got another status update email today, and when I logged on to my Toolkit, the part that is changed says “Placement - Complete. Peace Corps has completed your placement review. There are no holds on your account at this time.” This confirms what I thought yesterday – I am accepted, but they just need to find a job for me! I’m so excited, but it still doesn’t feel real. I don’t think it really will until I have the actual invitation and know a country and date of departure.
April 24-29, 2005 - Patiently (ok, not so patiently - I was a mess!) waiting for the invitation packet to arrive.
April 30, 2005 - On my way to work, my sister called to say the invitation packet had finally arrived! I wasn't sure that I wanted to find out what it was while I was at work, so I told her I'd get it when I got home. As soon as I got to work, I called back and told her I couldn't wait after all - the suspense was killing me! She and my mom came with the packet a little later. I opened the packet and found out where I'm going - BANGLADESH!! I was so excited, I was shaking and doing my best not to cry (out of happiness, what did you think??). Of the five countries in Asia I could have been placed in, I had been hoping for either Bangladesh or Thailand. It says in the packet that I need to make a decision whether or not to accept the invitation and call back within 10 days. I'll call first thing on Monday to accept.
May 2, 2005 - I accepted my invitation to Bangladesh today. I now have to write an aspiration statement and a Peace Corps oriented resume and send them in within 10 days.
((Haven't kept track since May what I've done. Finished the rest of the paperwork, got more country information, made flight reservations, etc. The important part is that I'm leaving August 5th for staging in San Francisco and August 8th I head for Bangladesh!))
