To let be, or not to let be...

On my way to work this morning my phone rang.  I was still half asleep and considered not answering.  I'm glad I did.  It was the person overseeing my medical file, and she was calling to let me know that they are have almost completed reviewing my medical file, and it appears that I will be medically cleared for a departure date in February.  The only catch is that, as of right now, I will be placed with 'psychological accommodation.'  According to the person from the Peace Corps, this will only eliminate approximately 5 countries from the list of places I could be serving, although she was unable to tell me which countries that included.  

From here, there are two paths that I can take.  The first is to accept the accommodation.  I don't really have too much of a problem with this, except that I truly believe that it isn't necessary.  Much like the treatment plans for headaches and heartburn, this accommodation would be for minor anxiety that I experienced three years ago.  With all of the negative stigma that is already attached to psychological visits, I think that difficulties like these are unfortunate.  They further discourage individuals from seeking a professional opinion when they are facing difficulties that are an inevitable part of life.

The other option I have is to schedule a visit with a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist for a full mental health evaluation.  I had the Peace Corps mail me the paperwork so it will be here if I decide to do this.  The trouble is that the final decision is still up to the Peace Corps' mental health advisor.  There is a chance that I spend the time and money for a second opinion only to have them decide that I will still be placed with accommodation.  I guess that then I would at least truly know where I stand.

I do have time to figure this out while I wait for even more paperwork from the Peace Corps.  Que será, será.

Long Overdue

Anyone who has known me for the past nine months knows that applying for the Peace Corps has been a large part of my life. Just getting all the paperwork in has been a huge lesson, and a big chunk of time and energy.  The two most frequent questions I get are; 1) Where are you going? and 2) Why? I still don't know where I'm going. That is in the hands of the mystery. Why is a long story, but I have a much better answer for that than I do for where. 

I live in two worlds that, for the most part, don't have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. There are plenty of people who love both art and math, but I have always taken a certain amount of pride in my particular brand of bifurcation. I spent the last four years at the University of Minnesota studying Finance and Corporate Environmental Management. As much as I grouse about the atmosphere there, I really did love it. There is a part of me that really admires the order and productivity of business. Even if I don't always agree with what corporate America is doing, I get energized putting on a suit and giving a presentation, typing e-mails to a group with whom I'm working, and developing excel sheets to solve a financial valuation problem. 

All that is fine and dandy, and plenty of people get really jazzed about business. I would be well on my way up the ladder if I could jump into a pant suit with both feet. The trouble is that another part of me would much rather be running around in a hemp skirt barefoot. Ironically, as I am writing this Michael Franti is singing emphatically about giving the corporation some complications. It's one big complication, and a seriously weak rung in my ladder. I love this side of me equally. I feel deeply connected to the people I have met and connected to while exercising this half of my personality.

There are days that I envy people who walk whole-heartedly in one of these paths or the other. There are times that I wish I could forget about one half of myself or another and submerge myself in business or activism. However, that's only temporary, and I know that I can't be me without being all of me so I'm giving myself in my entirety to bringing these two paths together. It has been done, and it will continue to be done. There are many people who have done this before me, and they have done it on a much larger scale. Still, it is a decision that poses some unique challenges.When I graduated from college I knew that in my first years after college I was going to have to give myself to something 100%. If I started a corporate career, the first few years were going to mean long work weeks that would leave little time for other things. I also knew that if I decided to do that I wasn't likely to jump out of a career half way through. That meant that the time for adventure was right after college. Still, I had to keep the future in mind and my adventures needed to embody both sides of me. The Peace Corps is work that is credible in both worlds. It allows me to do work that I believe in, and it allows me to continue functioning in a business sphere. It's the best of both worlds.

The Peace Corps has an added bonus, and that is the opportunity to learn another culture. I had contemplated studying abroad while I was in college but it was both expensive and lacking. I have a lot of respect for study abroad, but many times American students end up in dorms surrounded by other American students. I have no doubt that while in the Peace Corps, the world will have much more impact in me than I will have in the world. 

Peace,

Morgan

One step forward...

Today I had, what I hope to be, my last doctor's appointment.  Last week I got yet another letter from the Peace Corps.  Getting letters is starting to loose some of its excitement.  The letter said that after receiving confirmation of my immunizations the Peace Corps had opened my medical file and found that sections were incomplete or warranted further information.  They needed my psychologist to fill out a section she had missed.  They needed further information on headaches and heartburn I haven't had for over 3 years, and they needed lab reports that I had already given them in my original medical submission.  I have to admit, I was close to tears reading this letter.  I continue to be optimistic and excited about serving, but having to resubmit information is terribly frustrating.  On the upside, this is an excellent opportunity to practice the patience and perseverance that I will undoubtedly need in service.

One more step

This week I got a letter from the Peace Corps telling me that before they will open my medical file I must be up-to-date on my shots.  That meant getting the second Hep A shot and a polio booster I'm surprised I hadn't already had.  The shots don't sting too badly, but the extra appointment and paperwork sure do.  Oh well, onwards and upwards!

Surprise, surprise!

I have to say, I am completely flabbergasted. Today I received an e-mail telling me that my online status had been changed and I should go to my Peace Corps toolkit to review the changes. In my application status page was a bullet saying that my dental records have been reviewed and there are no dental holds on my record at that time. They also state that medical records generally lag behind dental records by 2-3 days. That means that I could be medically cleared for service next week! This is much, much sooner than I had expected since I think I mailed my packet just less than a week ago. What are the chances I will be invited to serve in September instead of in February as I had expected? I thought I would be terribly excited, but now that it comes down to it I have mixed feelings. I guess this is a sign for me to sit back, work on myself, and take the path as it comes.

The End of the Beginning

After much ado, some sweat and blood, and plenty of tears (I cried on the inside) I have finally mailed my (what seems to be) complete medical history off to the Peace Corps. Now all that is left for me to do is wait. Every step I take makes it that much more real. I have taken every step needed to recieve an invitation to serve, but waiting may prove to be the hardest part of the whole process. Although, even without digging up files, filling out forms, and writing essays, I still have plenty of things on my plate to keep me busy and distracted until the time comes.

That brings me to my next thought about this. If I do get an invitation to serve for the time I was nominated for then this is my last chance to add things to my resume other than the Peace Corps. What I am doing right now will still be on my resume in two or three years when I apply for a career! Yikes. I feel like I should be so much busier than I am.... I take that back. I need to make sure that what I do really counts and that I follow through so that it's an important part of my resume, but there is nothing wrong with taking this last summer as a bit of a child and relaxing, learning, and indulging crazy cravings for art classes and a trip out East.

To all of you applying for the Peace Corps; I wish you the best of luck, and remember to follow your heart and instinct as well as your mind.

A las diosas!

Medical Appointments: The Owners' Manual

Well, I have almost completed all of my necessary appointments for my medical clearance. Needless to say, most of the doctors with whom I met were completely and helplessly confused about what I needed. Despite the efforts of the Peace Corps to provide copious amounts of paperwork and instructions, many of the people filling out the forms ended up asking me tons of questions about what I needed. Word for the wise; read the entire form (even the really boring and tiny-print parts) before your appointment.

The psych evaluation was the first on my list. Not everyone needs to complete this evaluation, but because I had seen a psychologist when my parents got divorced, I needed to go back to the same person for an evaluation. That went fairly well, although my appointment was moved around a couple of times because the office assistants didn't know what type of appointment was best.

Next came a dentists appointment. This one went swimmingly since my dentist and dental hygienist are the parents of my best friend from high school. I highly recommend using family doctors for this process whenever possible.

The optical appointment went similarly to the dentists appointment, but if you have glasses it's best to bring them with you. You will need them for frame measurements, though if they have fitted you for glasses before they will probably be able to get the measurements from your history.

My general physical was the most frustrating part of my application process thus far. Do not just take whatever appointment you are given, especially if you are a student using your school facilities. When I scheduled my physical I explained to the individual scheduling it that I needed more than just an annual since this was for Peace Corps clearance, and I would need additional lab work (this is where reading all the instructions comes in). Despite my efforts they scheduled me for an annual examination with a nurse practitioner. I cannot stress enough; this appointment needs to be made with an M.D. in general medicine! The office assistant the day of my appointment was not at all helpful, but I had a medical assistant that was absolutely wonderful. She re-booked my appointment properly two days after my original appointment (for which I originally waited a month and a half). The only other thing I would suggest is making sure that you bring your vaccination history with you to this appointment, and let them know that you will need a TB test since some places will make you schedule a separate appointment for this instead of just rolling it all up with the lab work.

At this point, this seems to be dragging on forever. I can see why only a third of applicants are placed, especially if the other two thirds includes the people who just give up on the seemingly endless paperwork. Fortunately, I'm no less excited to serve than when I wrote my first essay. Best of luck to all those who are applying!

Interview

I know that this is late in coming, since I had my interview just over a week ago on Wednesday, March 19th. For the most part, it went exactly as I had expected. I am glad that they told me ahead of time that it would be a business formal interview. I brought in all of the paperwork that they had mailed to me for processing. The interview took about an hour, maybe a little more, I wasn't paying close attention to the time. All of the questions that they asked were alluded to in the application or paperwork, or they were pretty typical interview questions. Surprisingly, I think that many of the journals that I have been doing in my holistic health and healing class this semester helped me answer the questions since to write them I've had to look closely at myself. I also discovered that in order to work in a program in a Spanish speaking country one must have at least four units of college Spanish classes. For the University, that means I qualified after completing Spanish 1004. Fortunately, I finished through 3015.

After the interview we (my recruiter and I) completed my fingerprint charts. I didn't expect that I would need to be so precise in how I pushed my fingers onto the chart, but it was done soon enough. After we were done with that I also had to fill out a packet on my willingness to adjust my eating habits since I am a vegetarian. I think they also have a packet for people in relationships and one other packet I can't seem to remember. When I was done with that my recruiter explained to me that he would then nominate me for a program, which meant my file would be forwarded to Washington D.C. to compete with other nominees who had been nominated to the same program. He also explained that it usually takes a couple of days to a week for an applicant to be nominated by a recruiter, but my interview had gone so well that he was able to nominate my immediately, and I received my nomination information before I even left the office. It's nothing terribly specific. All I know is that I have been nominated for a business administration position in Latin America, and that I will most likely be leaving in February of 2009. This is all subject to change depending on the decisions made in Washington D.C. but they won't even look at my file until I have completed my physical, dental, and optical examinations and have submitted the paperwork to the national Peace Corps office.

Baby Steps

I got my packet of information from the Peace Corps on Friday (the packet they told me to expect 10-14 days after submitting my application). It has sheets for fingerprinting, a background check form, a 'paperwork to submit' checklist, and a few sheets on things like the HPV vaccine and drug and alcohol use. On Monday I was able to get a hold of my recruiter to schedule an interview for a week from tomorrow. This whole process is actually going much faster than I had originally anticipated.

In the letter that was e-mailed to me after scheduling my interview they recommended completing an online activity (in my online toolkit) before my interview. However, the link has not yet shown up in my toolkit. (Having access to an online profile with all of my Peace Corps information has helped me pass the time between interactions, but it takes longer for that profile to be updated than it takes for me to receive paperwork via snail mail.) The letter was also helpful in describing dress expectations for the interview, sample questions, and future expectations (e.g. there is still a large amount of paperwork to be filled out after the interview, if the interview is successful).

From what the letter said, the online activity is supposed to be a good tool for preparation. It sounds like it may be useful beyond the interview for preparing for placement if I'm fortunate enough to be placed. On my application I listed September 1st as my first available leave by date. It will be interesting to see how long after that I am actually able to leave.

Something I learned after setting up my interview is that this will be the last step before I become a Peace Corps nominee. Becoming a nominee means that my information is forwarded to the Peace Corps office in Washington D.C. for further examination and, hopefully, assignment. I'm thinking that this will mean a long wait between the interview and the next time that I hear from the Peace Corps.

Life on this Planet

Today I talked to my recruiter for the first time. He called me to let me know that he had reviewed my application and asked me to clarify a few items on my resume. He was very polite, in fact, he was so polite that I thought he was a telemarketer at first and almost told him I wasn't interested. Phew, that might have been the end of the line.

It was nice to finally get a few questions clarified, like where I am supposed to get fingerprinted (they finger print at the Peace Corps office during the interview). The conversation also explained what had happened to my paperwork (the paperwork I was supposed to get 10-14 days after submitting my resume). Brian (my recruiter) said that he was mailing it out from the downtown office today. After I get the paperwork in the mail I am supposed to call him back and schedule an interview. At the interview I can finish filling out some of the paperwork such as the fingerprinting form. It seems to me that it would be much more efficient to schedule the interview now and have them hold the paperwork at the office. I guess this is the system I'm going to have to get used to since I'll be working with it for more than two years if I'm accepted.

Another exciting part of the conversation was getting an indication of the direction I'll be going. I chose not to rank locations, but I did indicate that my activity preference was; (1) environment, (2) business, and (3) education. After looking at my application, Brian said that it looked like business would be the best fit for me, but he's going to have me fill out more information on my experience with environmental work and then reevaluate my fit. I thought that I would be disappointed if I didn't get to do environmental work, but I'm actually really excited by the idea of working in business. I would actually get to use all the things that I've been learning in school, and it would better prepare me for a career when I return (assuming I actually leave in the first place).

Hurry Up and Wait

Well, things are moving a bit slow, but they are moving. Today I got a letter in the mail from the Peace Corps with the information I needed to access my online toolkit. It's not much more information, but it is nice to see what's ahead. According to the information in my toolkit, I should be getting more paperwork in the mail in the next few days. There's fingerprinting, background check information, and an interview before I may become a nominee. Now that I'm getting feedback from the Peace Corps, serving as a volunteer feels more and more real!

The Beginning of the Beginning

The point of blogs is, undoubtedly, sharing information with other people. They may be used to keep in touch with people you know, or to share in formation with people you don't know. It's the idea of putting my life out there that's always given me the hebie-jebies. I'm of the opinion that if I'm going to put something out there, there's going to be a purpose behind it. Well, today I submitted my Peace Corps application, and the Peace Corps is just the kind of reason I need to sit down and share. If I am accepted this will allow me to do two things; 1) share my rapidly changing experiences with my family and friends, and 2) inform others who are thinking about going into the Peace Corps but know as little about it as I did when I fist started out.

The application itself is one of the longest pieces of paperwork I have ever filled out including, but not limited to, my college resumes and SATs. The printout of the first part of my application (the non-medical part), including my two essays and resume, was twenty pages long. There are sections on everything from education, to work history, to volunteer experience, to your motivation for applying for the Peace Corps. It took me approximately a month to complete, including plenty of distractions. Despite how intimidating it was at first, each time I submitted a section I got more and more excited about the prospect of serving 27 months in new place and culture with new people.

The second section (the medical section) was much easier. No essays this time. The medical section was just a series of yes and no check boxes asking fairly straight-forward questions. Most of the questions revolve around obvious issues like heart problems, cancer, and allergies. Obviously any and all of these could cause serious concern in a developing country. I am interested to know, however, what the potential problems would be for someone who previously had Lyme's disease.

I should be hearing from the Peace Corps again in a few days so I can access my online account. There's a long road before I'm even accepted to the Peace Corps, let alone placed, but I am excited to see what this new future holds.