Happy New Year

I know it's April, but it's been 6 months since I last posted an entry so happy new year it is. I'm graduating next month which is the good news. Bad news is I have a month to finish this thesis. I haven't really touched it in the last few weeks so things can get interesting.

Peace Corps- Ok, so the last blog I think I wrote was a few days after my interview and nomination. I guess a lot has happened since then, but the steps have been so spread out, it doesn't really feel like it. I received some medical forms in an official package, I want to say less than a week after my interview. It took me a few days to figure out where I was going to get my dental and medical evaluations done, seeing as how I have no dentist or doctor in Baltimore. Luckily, though, there is a dentist office in my apartment building. So I called to see if they were taking new patients. They were. Score. Made an appointment for a week or two later and I told the receptionist what exactly I needed done and why; X-rays and dental chart fill-out based on the dentist's assessment of my teeth. Please... This must have been some time in mid-November. I actually ended up seeing this dentist twice because the first time around, he remarked that he didn't know how extensive this evaluation was and he had another appointment so I could only get the x-rays done that day. I hate when they do that. Good thing I didn't actually have to take anything more than an elevator and a few steps to get there because I would have been less than happy. I went back for the assessment and teeth cleaning. Submitted the paperwork and got dentally cleared really quickly.

Medical was not so fun. The good thing was I found out there are actual physicians that work in our campus' Student Health and Wellness office so at least it was convenient. For the medical evaluation, it was mostly just annoying paperwork and medical history documents but I also had to have a regular check-up, a blood test, a urinalysis and all women are required to get pap smears. First one. Ouch. A few weeks later, everything came back normal and I submitted the results along with the dental evaluation. Peace Corps sent me a letter in the mail some time during Xmas break saying a few things on my medical chart were missing but they were things that I either a) stupidly forgot to put a check mark next to... or b) filled out but forgot to fax, or they got lost on PC's behalf. One document that was missing required the doctor's signature so I had to wait until the health office re-opened at the beginning of January to go back and get the signature. I re-faxed everything... or so I thought... and waited. I never received any kind of confirmation that my documents were received but I figured that my file was just being put on the backburner because my nomination date still wasn't for another 8 months. Meanwhile, I started an intensive 3-week French course that compressed a whole semester of beginner French into 30 hours of class time and probably 120 hours of homework. It was necessary to keep up my end of the bargain with Peace Corps that I would learn some French if I wanted to take part in my nominated program.

Finally in March, I emailed someone in the Medical Office HQ and asked if the needed something else from me because I hadn't heard from them in 2.5 months. Turns out they never received my fax of updated medical documents. HA! I later realized it was because I never included a "9" before the fax number, which is necessary when sending faxes long distances. I re-re-faxed and about a week later, I was medically cleared. One giant leap for mankind.

Which brings me to today. My online Toolkit, which is basically Peace Corps' system of letting its applicants know where in the process they are and what is need from them next, is a little ambiguous. Here is what it says: "Your file is currently under consideration. Please review the information on this page to determine whether Peace Corps is awaiting any information from you." Well the information on the page doesn't actually tell me anything other than what is already complete so I called the Placement Office for my nomination field to get more answers. The Placement Officer who answered my call told me he would review my file and get right back to me. A few hours later, he responded by email:

"Our database shows that you have been nominated to a Community/Youth Development program that is estimated to depart sometime in mid to late September. The review of your file here in the Placement Office will begin within 6-8 weeks of when you become medically qualified."

It's now almost mid-April and I'm realizing that my September nomination program is not looking so likely afterall. It sounds like they're going to start reviewing my file some time around my graduation. This can be a problem. I'll say why in a second. Here's more...

"Then, your Placement Specialist will perform a final evaluation of your technical skills and suitability for service. Upon completion of this assessment, your Placement Specialist may contact you with some follow-up questions regarding the information in your application."

Yeah. Contacting me after graduation might be a little difficult. And the kicker...

"Given this, please keep in mind that an invitation is never guaranteed. Applicants should make no plans to go overseas until an invitation has been issued and an email has been sent to the headquarters staff to accept the invitation."

Well. That's just too damn bad because I'm backpacking Europe for 3 months this summer and I won't be back stateside until August 25. That might make getting a visa and other documents in order for a 2 year trip that leaves a in a few week, a little difficult. This doesn't really bother me that much though. It's funny to read some other applicants' blogs on Peace Corps Journals and see how stressed out they are about the application process. Maybe I don't care so much because I'm too busy with school/excited about my Eurotrip to worry about placement right now. I've also been thinking a lot lately about the possibility of not being able to participate in my September nomination program and there are only 2 things that suck about it. 1) I haven't really imagined myself anywhere other than French West Africa. But I can quickly get over that. And 2) I specifically started learning French and taking French classes at school as part of my agreement with Peace Corps that my nomination was contingent upon gaining at least a year of French. Oh well to that too. A little French never hurt anybody. And it's a super easy A. So, basically I have zero problem with asking for a new assignment if I am actually invited to my nominated program. It will also give me more time to be in LA for a little while and volunteer somewhere locally as a way to make my candidacy for a new program stronger. I also just miss LA.

So that's my 6-month Peace Corps application status wrap-up in a nutshell. Stay tuned for more updates.

Peace Corps Updates

I'll try and keep this short. I had an interview with my recruiter from the Peace Corps almost a week ago and it went really well! It was held in Arlington, VA which is right next door to DC. I guess that's convenient enough considering there are only a handful of recruiting offices around the country so some applicants REALLY have to travel far just for an interview! I believe applicants from Alaska have to go to Los Angeles and this is before they're even nominated to serve. It was pretty easy for me. It was forecast to rain so instead of walking to the shuttle stop and taking the JHMI to Penn Station, one of my friends graciously picked me up and drove me 10 minutes to the train station. I took the MARC train to DC and then 2 lines on the DC underground metro trains into Arlington. The building where my interview was scheduled was only 4 blocks from the metro station but it was completely uphill and it was raining cats and dogs. Even though I had an umbrella, as I was walking uphill, the wind was blowing downhill and I was drenched from knees down. I was also wearing heels which aren't very agreeable with wet weather since it created very little friction between the soles of my feet and my shoes, which were probably about a half size too big. Those four blocks were the worst leg of the trip but I made it and on time!

The interview process was more casual than Teach for America's. My recruiter's name is Chris and he's a really great guy- very likeable and easy to talk to. The first part of the interview was just him explaining how the rest of the process will go, how long it should take, etc. The second part was the traditional question and answer stage. The last part was me asking him questions. I learned two important things about the Peace Corps at this interview, things I hadn't come across during my traditional research. The first is that PC volunteers can live on their own after training, they don't have to live with host families. The other is that all volunteers travel to their host country together, on the same flight, and actually meet each other a few days before their departure in one US city before traveling abroad together. I thought both of those things were cool.

After I asked Chris my questions, came my nomination. He told me he had no problem nominating me and I was surprised I got to help pick my region and program. Of course I wanted sub-Saharan Africa but I didn't think I was going to get selected to go there because I don't have the skills or the kind of degree they're after. However, Chris found a program in French West Africa (we don't know the country) that can use a volunteer in Women and Children Community Development or something or the other. The thing is this program wants volunteers who have some basic knowledge of French and I've never studied French so I had to sign a contract vowing to learn some French before I depart. The good thing is Hopkins offers a French Elements I Intersession course, or at least they have in past years, so I'll jump on that if it's still necessary. It's also important to note that I very well may not end up in the program I get nominated for, for a number of reasons, so I'm crossing my fingers but I'm still open to change.

I missed my stop on the MARC train back to Baltimore so it took me an additional 75 minutes to get home, but when I did, I looked up programs in French-speaking Africa that typically leave in mid-Sept, the departure date of the program I was nominated for, and found Cameroon and Togo, both francophone, to have departure dates around the middle of September, historically. The next step for me is to get medically and dentally cleared. Everything else is of course just a waiting game.

Teach For America Said NO

It's been a few weeks since I've posted any updates about TFA or Peace Corps. Looks like now it's only Peace Corps as TFA is no longer interested in my candidacy. I had a phone interview with them about a week and a half ago. I wouldn't say it was a complete train wreck but it didn't start out very well and only got a little better as time passed. I don't remember who the interviewer was exactly but she was a TFA Corps member and I think I remember her saying she actually still teaches. Surprisingly, considering the interview was scheduled for 8:30pm, I had all day to think about it but I didn't actually get nervous until she called. She spent like 7 or so minutes just to tell me how the interview was going to be conducted and how phone interviews are sometimes awkward, so what to do if we got disconnected. I'm sure that opening schpeal is designed to make you more comfortable and less nervous but I was just anticipating getting going so I found myself replying "Ok, ok, ok" without actually fully paying attention to her directions. By the time we actually did get going and she asked me why I was interested in joining Teach For America, my ability to convey an actually satisfactory and concise response was already out the window. I don't remember what I said exactly, it was a sort of out of body experience, but whatever it was wasn't as eloquent as it should have been and I remember thinking throughout the rest of the interview that I should have written what I really wanted to do say down and practiced it earlier as that would quite surely be asked.

I spent the next 15 minutes of the interview just pacing the length of my apartment back and forth. I had researched some possible interview questions and typed notes on them which I taped to my wall but I found them to be quite useless as not much I prepared for was really asked. I was prepared to talk about my views on the achievement gap in American education, what core values central to the TFA mission I aligned best with, what I thought about the articles I was asked to read, etc. but every question was way more broad and certainly more personal. She asked me about people I didn't get along with, how I stay organized, working in groups, and other things unrelated directly to teaching. I think I answered them fine but I didn't have a real warm feeling when it was over.I didn't realize until after I got off the phone how sweaty I was. Even though it wasn't the best of initial interviews, I was still about 70% certain I would have advanced to the final round but I found out on Wednesday afternoon via email that I had reached the end of the road for my quest with TFA.

I still think TFA is a really great program that sets out to address a pretty large injustice in our country and I believe that along with most corps members really making an impact in the classroom, the big name of the program also raises awareness about the issue. Education inequity is not really something that can be easily solved or has a single solution. I still think I would have made a decent addition to the squad but I also believe that everything happens for a reason and denial into the program has gotten me really excited for the Peace Corps!

On Monday, I went to Campus Police and got my fingerprints done. PC sent me some charts and other paperwork needed before I can actually interview with them so I got that sent out with the fingerprints and transcripts Tuesday night to some office in VA so I hope they receive(d) it before the end of the week. I'm also making good progress with my thesis so 'Africa, Africa, Africa' is on my brain. I know that PC process takes a while as with any government agency, bureaucracy is at its finest... Paperwork, interview, more paperwork, extreme medical clearance, background check, probably more paperwork, and since this is an out of country experience, passport and visa nightmares. I'm definitely glad I didn't wait until later to apply. I guess I'll just keep waiting until the next step.

TFA Phone Interview Monday

At 8:30pm, 2 days from now is my scheduled phone interview. Unfortunately that means I'm going to miss the second half of House (assuming they call on time) but I can always stream it online probably Tuesday. Surprisingly now, I'm not too nervous about the interview. I read a really interesting article today about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation to the Newark public school system and whether that was an appropriate gift. I think it could be relevant to my interview but I'm not yet sure in what context I would bring it up. I'll post an update after Monday.

In other news, all my recommendations for Peace Corps have been submitted and I'm now waiting on a package they're supposed to mail me with more information on what to do next. It's all a waiting game. I have plenty of school work to keep myself busy.

TFA Phone Interview Monday

8:30 pm, 2 days from now is my scheduled phone interview.

Peace Corps app is in!

Ok, so I'm done applying for jobs for post-grad and I'm only 2 weeks into my senior year. On the ball! I'll know in 2 months which organization I'll actually be doing.

In other news, I started the school year and it's so weird being a science kid. I'm used to taking one science course and the rest, humanities. I kind of don't feel like finishing this post so until next time...

TFA Update

I got an e-mail yesterday letting me know I moved on to the phone interview round- the first of 2 interview stages. I've got to do some more preparation but I have plenty of time as sign-ups are not until Sept. 23 and the actual interviews a few days later. I think the point of this round is really just to make sure I understand what the program is about and make sure I know what I'm actually getting myself into. I think I have a pretty good gage of what TFA stands for, who they're looking for, and a confidence that I can be a successful part of their corps. I don't want to cross the bridge before I come to it, but unless my interview is a complete disaster, this is not the stage that I'm most worried about.

Until further notice...