I decided within the past week that I am going to apply for the Peace Corps. I am not sure if my timing or my intentions or my perceptions of what it will be like before, during, and after the experience are at all accurate, yet one thing that I am certain of is that I have to figure out a way to get my manager of three months to write me a solid recommendation letter because applying is an absolute must. I am well aware of the fact that I cannot definitively make even the most mundane decisions on a day-to-day basis (just another pleasant nuance of Julie) yet it almost frightens me how sure I am about this particular new endeavor of mine.
Naturally my mind starts to race about this...what if I don't get accepted? How embarrassed would I be? What is the interview process going to be like? What country would they want to put me in? The most intimidating potential question that I cannot seem to get out of my head however is what if somehow the world aligns and I get offered a "real job" for next year and have to make a decision between the Peace Corps and a "real life" job. In my head I know that there is nothing more "real" about life than the experience that I would get out of the Peace Corps, but I know that the pressure from "real life" responsibility and my inherent desire to get my English teaching career started will definitely create a painful internal conflict.
All of that aside, how could I say no to devoting two years of my life to a cause outside of anything that I can even imagine comprehending at this point in my life? I could potentially work to enhance the education, health, agriculture, and essentially the lives of countless individuals that I do not even know yet; while at the same time gaining fluency in a new language, expanding my 'weltanschauung' tenfold, and meeting a ton of amazing people willing to spend time and energy and life all for someone and something else. What is more "bon vivant" than that? Remind me to read this post if I make it past the first interview. Cheers.
Naturally my mind starts to race about this...what if I don't get accepted? How embarrassed would I be? What is the interview process going to be like? What country would they want to put me in? The most intimidating potential question that I cannot seem to get out of my head however is what if somehow the world aligns and I get offered a "real job" for next year and have to make a decision between the Peace Corps and a "real life" job. In my head I know that there is nothing more "real" about life than the experience that I would get out of the Peace Corps, but I know that the pressure from "real life" responsibility and my inherent desire to get my English teaching career started will definitely create a painful internal conflict.
All of that aside, how could I say no to devoting two years of my life to a cause outside of anything that I can even imagine comprehending at this point in my life? I could potentially work to enhance the education, health, agriculture, and essentially the lives of countless individuals that I do not even know yet; while at the same time gaining fluency in a new language, expanding my 'weltanschauung' tenfold, and meeting a ton of amazing people willing to spend time and energy and life all for someone and something else. What is more "bon vivant" than that? Remind me to read this post if I make it past the first interview. Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment