I’m MOVING!  To Tumblr… sorry, WordPress. : ( I’ll miss you… sorta.

Here’s my new web address. Don’t get too confused now, it’s a doozy from this last one:

The NEW and IMPROVED version of Scattering the Morning Dew (In progress… bear with me).

Thanks for reading!  This will continue to stay active for a little while, or forever, I haven’t really decided yet.  Either way, last post on here! Tear…

In reflecting on my application process, I’ve come to realize that there were certain aspects of applying to the Peace Corps that sort of sideswiped me out of nowhere.  Part of me wishes I had some warning that they were coming, but part of me understands that experiencing these shocks is part of the process, that without them, I wouldn’t be a Peace Corps invitee today.

Either way, I’d like to share my thoughts about these things, 5 important things, that every Peace Corps Applicant should know when they first sit down at that computer to begin the long and arduous application that awaits them…  Maybe they’ll help you, maybe they won’t, but looking back, I would have liked to have some inkling that they would soon become a reality for me.

1. Your patience is going to be tested like never before.

College applications, SAT scores, the line for a really awesome roller coaster… nothing you have had to wait for before in your life will compare to the infamous ‘wait’ you will experience when applying to the Peace Corps.  If you go to a recruiting session somewhere, you’ll probably hear that the application process, on average, takes a year from the time you apply to the time you actually depart for service.  Trust your recruiter when he or she says it, it’s probably going to be true.

How to deal: Welcome to the Peace Corps application process. Your new mantra is now patience is a virtue.

2. Applying to and preparing for the Peace Corps is an investment.

Language training, gaining additional work or volunteer experience, travel expenses, packing, medical bills, you name it, the numerous steps of applying to the Peace Corps and then preparing for your departure not only require time, but money.  Prepare yourself for this and look for deals wherever and whenever possible, especially during the medical stage.  As those mountains of medical paperwork and records pile up around you, be extremely wary of insurance coverage in particular and whether or not your Peace Corps medical tests will be covered.  When at all possible, utilize government doctors recommended by the Peace Corps if available to you.  Trust me, should you run into an issue with insurance coverage, your piggy bank will thank me later.  Oh! And don’t forget Peace Corps Wiki’s Peace Corps Volunteer Discounts page when you get your invitation!

How to deal: Save as much money as possible and decide whether it’s the right time financially for you to join the Peace Corps.

3.  Your life is going to feel like it’s being put on hold for Peace Corps at times.

There are ups and downs to the application process, and in those moments of all-time lows where your patience is running thin, you haven’t heard from anyone at Peace Corps for months, and your doubting your motivations for applying, you are going to feel like you’re putting your life on hold for the Peace Corps with no notion of whether it’s going to happen or not.  In these moments you’re going to have internal battles about giving up and moving on.

How to deal: Don’t.  Don’t give up.  Like any slump, you’ll come out of it.  When you do get that invitation, it will have been worth it.  And as for the putting your life on hold BS (Yes, I thought this at one point!), you can still carry on with your life successfully while applying to the Peace Corps.  Don’t let the low-points consume you.

4. You will be inflicted with mild to moderate cases of RAS (Restless Applicant Syndrome).

Everyone on Peace Corps Journals seems to be posting about their invitation that’s coming in the mail, your PO (placement officer) hasn’t even contacted you yet, and you’re obsessively hitting refresh on your inbox while cross-checking your Peace Corps toolkit.  Yes, it’s happened and no, there’s nothing you can do about it. RAS: A plague without a cure preying upon hopeless applicants everywhere.

How to deal: Keep busy and read the other hundreds of posts on Peace Corps Journals written by fellow applicants in the same position as you who also don’t have an invitation yet. Misery loves company?  No, but seriously, it helps to know you’re not the only one going through this.

5.  You’re going to meet some resistance along the way.

Applicants this year were lucky enough to have the 20/20 expose air in January on the safety of women in the Peace Corps… providing already worried family members of applicants with an excuse to worry even more.  Any applicant however, is bound to face some opposition to their decision to apply to the Peace Corps.  Whether from a close relative, friend, or complete stranger who thinks you’re crazy to want to live in “the bush” for over two years, it’s going to come at you when you least expect it.

How to deal:  Persistence is key.  If you really want to be a Peace Corps volunteer, no one is going to stop you and eventually, you’ll learn to take negative comments with a grain of salt.  Keep calm and carry on.

Back in high school, I had a teacher who assigned his senior students to create something called an ‘Exit Plan,’ about a month before graduation.  In this Exit Plan, every student had to create a resume, a list of long and short-term goals for the future, a fictional budget sheet for yourself if you were to enter the workforce immediately after graduation, your hopes and dreams, among other things including a timeline of your life.  Essentially for me, it became this sort of personalized analysis of my life up to that point and where I wanted to be in the next 5-10 years.

Five years down the road, I recall being a bit daunted by this task, particularly the timeline portion.  How was I, at a mere 17 years old, supposed to know what lay ahead for me two, four, five, let alone ten years down the winding road of life?  I did the best I could, placing the cookie-cutter “Graduate from high school,” “Study Abroad,” “Graduate from college,” “Find a career I love,”  “Get married,” along, not my straight, but curving line decorated with peaks and valleys that I knew would accompany my life.

But I also put achievements on there just for the fun of it, not knowing if they would happen or not.  Maybe they were aspirations, maybe they were just whimsical ideas I had gotten from reading an article, college brochure, or something a relative had spoken to me about.  Among these random aspirations placed at completely random points on my timeline was the very random idea of applying to and serving in the Peace Corps.  Back then it was a random thought in the back of my mind, but today, I can proudly say, it’s become part of my reality.

[The freakiest thing about my timeline is that everything I put on it has come true.]

On Monday, I crossed this item off of my ‘timeline list’ when I received my Big Blue Packet (BPP as PC applicants commonly refer to it), my official invitation kit to serve in the Peace Corps as a Small Enterprise Development Trainer in Senegal.  At the Post Office, I couldn’t contain my excitement as the postman turned the corner with my package.  After explaining my antsy behavior (I may or may not have ripped the package from his hands), I ran out to my car, ripped open the envelope, and carefully took out the cover letter:

A few hours later after engrossing myself in my Welcome Book and other materials, I sent my acceptance email to the Placement Office, officially sealing the deal.  I depart June 13^th from an orientation city yet to be determined, though I’m thinking and hoping it will be Philly!

I cannot even begin to explain all the emotions that have been running through my being this week.  Happiness, tears of joy, shock, incredulity, uncontrollable freaking out, frustration, fear, drama-queenness…  I’m basically a newborn baby, hormonal teenager, pregnant woman, and this dramatic chipmunk all mixed together (and no, I have no idea how that last comparison is relevant, but it is hilarious).

And I’m sure as my Restless Invitee Syndrome (RIS) sets in, more emotions will emerge.  Congratulations to everyone else who has received invitations!  And to those of you still applying, you’ll be crossing this off of your list in no time flat. It’s official… this is my last blog posting as an Applicant on Peace Corps Journals!  Cheers, Everyone!

Here’s the email my PO sent me earlier this morning:

Hello Stanzi. I apologize it has taken me longer than anticipated to complete your review. You have been granted Placement clearance your invitation for the June departure program will be sent out today. The program is a Small Business Development assignment in Francophone Africa. Your invitation kit should arrive in 3 to 5 business days.

I will write a longer post later!  I cannot even begin to contain my excitement right now! AHHHH!

CONGRATS to everyone who has gotten an invite recently… It’s great to share the moment with you all!  And to those still waiting, keep waiting… it’s worth it in the end!