First off--this is my first blog! You should know that in case I sound a little too excited or eager in my first couple of posts, which I will because I'm going to be living and working in Rwanda for the next two years!
For those of you who are not familiar with me, I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2010 (2010!) with a B.A. in International Studies and Public Policy. I'm also an alumna of Bard High School Early College in New York City.
I've always wanted to join the Peace Corps, but to make sure I was serious in my intent--I decided to postpone service for a year to experience life outside of college and gain some exposure in the post-grad workforce. In my one year of working full-time outside of school, I learned valuable lessons that will help me gain more out of my Peace Corps service. Also, thanks to my gap year--I've got a full year's experience of teaching (thanks Muchin!), which led to my placement assignment and no doubt will help me with my future lesson planning.
My (very general) application timeline:
October, 2009: Submitted application for Peace Corps.
December, 2009: Contacted by recruiter, set up/had interview, nominated to serve in French West Africa departing in September of 2010, received medical/dental kit.
January, 2010: Submitted medical kit, legally cleared.
March, 2010: Celebrated birthday! Medical Kit sent back to me due to missing items. Resubmitted medical kit.
April, 2010: Sent an email to my recruiter stating that I am taking a gap year between graduation and Peace Corps service. New service start date: September, 2011. Application deactivated until March, 2011.
March, 2011: Reactivated application, renewed expired medical kit items, started working on dental kit.
May, 2011: Submitted renewed medical kit, dentally cleared.
June, 2011: Medically cleared, materials forwarded to placement, waited for placement's call, received placement's call!, offered a placement in an early generation Peace Corps country (Rwanda) serving as an Education Volunteer. Not only will my french language skills be utilized, but my year's worth of teaching as well. Officially accepted placement in Rwanda, confirmed as part of the September 2011 staging group.
August, 2011: Received staging materials for September.
--Janay Daniel
