Since I set up this blog for the main purpose of sharing my Peace Corps stories and adventures, I figure I should put everyone up to speed. See below for a summary of my PC process thus far.
September 2008: Application
When applying to serve in a 3rd world country for an extended period of time, don't expect this to be an easy or simple process. The initial application was a 15 hour process which included personal information, employment history, medical history, fingerprints, a resume, college transcripts, and two 500 word essays.
October 2008: Interview
My PC recruiter, Anne Fraser, came up to WWU for a career fair; we used this convenient time to meet for my first interview. Everything went very well, Anne put everything into a very informative (and somewhat shocking) perspective. There were a few more emails and follow up phone calls later in this month.
November 2008: Nomination
Anne nominated me to be considered for a program which included business advising and ecotourism in Sub-Saharan Africa. That's literally as specific as it gets - for now.
December 2008: Medical Screening
Nothing says "happy holidays" like multiple visits to the dentist, doctors, and shrinks...I thought the initial application was complex; not compared to the medical screening. The bad news: I got my first ever cavaties, which was just slightly devastating, but not bad considering they were my first in 22 years. More bad news: The lab technicians had a bit of trouble extracting blood, so I left the doctors office that morning with about 5 needle holes in my arms. The good news was all the doctors found me to be in healthy shape (both physically and mentally). My thoughts at this point were: "Well for all this trouble, I'd better get in..."
February 2009: More medical stuff
A few follow up medical things were necessary for me to be medically cleared. Yay! More blood tests! Although I now know that CBC stands for "Complete Blood Count", so I'm that much more into Grey's Anatomy now, not.
The good news came that I was officially medically and legally cleared about a month later. This also means that the US gov has my fingerprints on file, so no more bank robbing or other exciting illegal activities ;)
May 2009: Follow Up Essays
Apparently the PC placement office didn't like my essay on cross-cultural adaptation using my experience developing different roles on stage as an actor. So I had to rewrite this essay. Additionally, they needed proof of my BA degree, and some other resume/job experience info. Almost there? Hopefully...
June 2009: Invititation
One week after graduation, I received an letter - rather a 2 lbs package - inviting me to serve as a PCV (Peace corps volunteer) in Senegal, West Africa as a business counselor. This was deliverd only 7 weeks before departure.
August 2009: Departure
I'm now about 4 days from departure. I'm excited, intrigued, nervous, scared, sad, and not packed yet. My emotions vary day-to-day, hour-to-hour. Current emotion of the hour: Nervous. However, I'm almost finished buying things off my packing list and all my paper is pretty much completed, so that's somewhat calming.
Enough for now, time to pack! Thanks for reading :)
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Byron Yee
Peace Corps Trainee - Senegal, 2009
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