Today I finally decided to get off my lazy tush and write my first blog post regarding my Peace Corps journey thus far. A journey you say? How is that possible?! You haven't even left yet, Daviyion.
Haha. True, but getting there is half the battle.
So back in the early days of September 2012, I decided that I wanted to join the Peace Corps. It was an easy choice somewhat since I am a naturally impulsive person and make my biggest decision based on the slightest whims. This has proven to be a remarkably effective method thus far in my life. I mean we are talking about a person who choose what universities to apply to for a first professional job based on who was playing the NCAA March Madness Tournament and 4 years later I am still glad that Penn State made the cut that year!
A lot of people have asked me why do I want to do this. Questions like "Why uproot your life?", "Can't you do the same thing here (America). Why do you need to leave?", and generally just "Why Peace Corps?".
For me, it was a lot of reasons; some more serious/important like I want to be more globally competent and learn/engage in the culture and communities and people from another part of the world to reasons such as losing a bunch of weight by being exposed to diet that most likely will not include late-night McDonald's runs :)
So to give a short version of my timeline here is what my start with Peace Corps has been thus far.
Early September 2012-Slept on it and pondered for about 3 days about signing up
Mid Sept. 2012- Decided to apply and tell the world about this via Facebook to much fanfare (note to self: Always tell your girlfriend/loved ones first before posting it online and then get that awkward call or text asking about what's going on). Won't be doing that again
Mid to Late Sept. 2012- Continue work on application, gather references, continued research, work on reflective questions for application (First time I really paused to think about what I was doing. haha.)
Sept 28th, 2012- Application submitted
October 2012- Don't remember everything, but I know that I had to complete some paperwork for pre-medical clearances and scheduled my interview with a local recruiter (This was the first time I felt anxious about things).
November 2012- Had interview with Nellie, Returned Volunteer who served in Nepal. It was AWESOME! The interview was scheduled for about 45 minutes to an hour and lasted nearly 2 1/2! What can I say? I talk too much sometimes.
Still November 2012- Learned that Nellie was impressed or curious enough to nominate me for service. That lead to a very exciting Thanksgiving for me. At this point, there was no looking back for me.
December 2012- This month is kind of a blur as I don't recall anything really happening big this month. Just lots of questions from friends and family when I went home for winter break.
January 2013- New Year, New Excitement! Eagerly waiting to hear that now that I have a nominate if there are any trips coming up around/during the upcoming summer for departure. No news or updates from my recruiter.
February 2013- While at a conference in NYC and with my girlfriend during the Valentine's weekend, bad news struck. There were no upcoming trips leaving for the summer that I qualified for. Talk about a damper on what is the most romantic time of the year. Thanks for my girlfriend for being there to support me and still making the weekend awesome! That could have been a rough one.
I learned that even though I for sure wouldn't be leaving in the summer that my nomination was still active and if anything comes open that I'm qualified for I will be notified. Pretty depressing, but I had no clue what that meant or how to plan my life moving forward. This was the first monkey wrench in the equation.
March 2013-Post New York I'm in a bit of a funk and start making new plans such has deciding to renew my Amazon Prime and Playstation Game Account for another year cause 'Hey, I'm not leaving anytime soon.' SURPRISE! I receive an email from Peace Corps indicating that I had been nominated for a trip departing in or around January 2013. Whoa! That's why later than the summer, but I can be flexible. I mean it was only a once in a lifetime opportunity. lol.
More time passes... Nothing big happens for a while and the only thing that I'm focused on is remaining possible for more news or updates and after nearly four solid months of a dry spell, I get some news!
August 2013-Hanging out in the office with a pair of my favorite colleagues when in a not untypical Daviyion fashion I drift out of the conversation to check my email and hear the familiar ding alert of a new message and in viewing the preview, I see the words, "Peace Corps", "Invitation", "Morocco". I think I literally screamed and in typically fashion, Jordan West just says, "did you get it"? ( I guess the sound coming from my mouth indicating Peace Corps joy vs the run of the mill joy). I laughed, actually read the email and laugh some more. I can tell you know few things can dampen your day when you learn that your life is about to be changed forever!
August-Now 2013- The thing I love/loved most about this phrase of the process is that things actually moved fairly quick in comparison to the first 2/3 of this journey. Me accepting my invitation with little to no hesitation to shock/dismay/joy/sadness/excitement of many around me, having to complete a TON of doctors visits and labs, updating my resume and writing a personal statement to share with my Moroccan contact in country, and a host of other tasks.
And that's it! My first blog down. This wasn't so bad. Granted I'm doing this in the comfort of my apartment, which is climate controlled surrounded by all my fancy tech toys and life luxuries. What will this experience feel like in the world of Morocco? I guess you will have to just join me on my Escape to Morocco and find out.
Until next time
P.S. These cute little guys roam the desert of Morocco. My goal upon arrival is to make one of these my pet. His name will be Mojo. That is all
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