Perpetual Peace Corps Paperwork

Once the excitement of my invitation packet wore off I realized it was really just a clever disguise for even more paperwork! Visa applications, government passport forms, life insurance, property insurance, media releases...and on top of that instructions for formatting yet another resume and aspiration statement. Apparently the resumes and essays we submit as part of our application don't get sent to our country desk, so this is our chance to help them get to know us a bit before we get there. For the benefit of those who (like me) have no clue what sort of thing you put in an aspiration statement and end up just googling it...here's a copy of what I wrote. Maybe it will help clarify things a bit for my friends and family as well.

A. The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill during your Peace Corps service.

Since my first job as a pooper scooper at a kennel at age 14 I have held a variety of unique jobs from facilitating ropes courses to personal training to managing a political action committee to patrolling construction sites as a night security guard and just about everything in between. No single job could ever prepare me for what I will face in the Peace Corps, but together these positions have provided me with a pretty wide range of professional attributes that can help me get the job done. The most important of these will likely be patience, both with myself as I adjust to new situations and with those I’ll be working with. I’m sure my experience with environmental education and developing curriculum will be useful as well, although I also hope to learn a lot more in this area during training. Good communication and interpersonal skills have been a must in nearly all of my previous jobs and I expect to rely heavily on these traits as I interact with my community and fellow volunteers. I will need to draw on every skill and strength I possess to successfully meet all of the challenges during my service. As they say, the only thing worse than not having the skills you need to meet your challenges is not having challenges big enough to summon all of your skills.

I’m trying to keep my mind as free of pre-conceived notions as possible, so my aspirations for service are pretty simple. I hope to learn as much as possible from as many people as possible, and I want to stand back at the end of my service and feel like I made even a small difference. I have no grandiose dreams of swooping down on some unsuspecting village and single-handedly solving all of its problems, I just want to be able to roll up my sleeves every day and work toward making even the smallest change in someone’s life. If, at the end of my service, I have learned a new language, a new culture and new skills I will consider my aspirations more than fulfilled.

B. Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

I think the two biggest keys to success are understanding your challenges and communicating effectively. My strategies for working with my host country partners are to take the time to understand their needs and expectations as well as honestly and clearly expressing my own. I know that I will need to be patient because change doesn’t happen overnight, and I will most likely experience many more failures than successes. As a foreigner from a wealthy country I will need to work to break down stereotypes and form honest and open connections with my community in order to effectively work together to meet their needs.

C. Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

Fortunately I tend to have a very “go with the flow” personality, and I’m just about as low-maintenance as a girl can get. I happen to really enjoy putting myself in new environments and situations just to experience how someone else lives, whether it be in a different country, ethnic group or even just a different state (sometimes living in the South feels like living in another country). I know that living in a different culture for two years is a lot different than spending a few weeks in another country, but my I think my strategies for adapting will be the same. I plan on doing a little cultural research before I leave, but I’ve found that too much preparation usually results in pre-conceived notions and unfulfilled expectations. For me it is easier to go somewhere with a completely blank slate and let the places and people paint their own picture. I plan on leaving my pride at home, since I know from experience that looking goofy while learning a new way of life is inevitable. I’m going to keep an open mind and rejoice in cultural differences rather than looking for similarities.

D. The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

As an outdoor education minor I gained a lot of experience in teaching and presenting environmental education and touched the surface of environmental issues but didn’t get much experience developing solutions to these issues. During pre-service training I hope to become much more familiar with specific environmental issues as well as strategies for coping with or improving them. I also hope to develop enough cultural understanding and language skills to make a smooth transition into my village at the end of training.

E. How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

My biggest personal aspiration is to live a life that would make good story, and I think Peace Corps service complements that perfectly. In that respect I hope my service will lead to many new friendships, ideas and opportunities that will contribute to the next chapter in my story after my service ends. Professionally I think the Peace Corps will help me learn new skills, reinforce old ones, and provide me with an increased sense of independence and self-confidence. I hope to close out my service with an expanded world view and a broader perspective on life that will help carry me into my next big adventure.