Timeline

January 2006 - My parents got on my case about what my long-term goals/plans are. It causes me to look towards the things I enjoy: ruffing it, service to others (yes, that is the boy scout in me), and travel. As a student at American University, the Peace Corps has a pretty intense presence on campus and in people's minds. I check out the website and decide that after college I am going to join.

May/Summer 2008 - I graduate, but instead of applying for the Peace Corps I enroll in graduate school to earn my MAT in Secondary Education. I decided I'd do it after graduating from TCNJ

Winter 2008/2009 - I begin to really long for something different and out of the ordinary from Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton is great and all (Hoagie Haven is heaven), but I want to get out of my comfort zone. I begin the application online, but don't finish because of school and student teaching.

December 14, 2009 - I quickly fill out my forms and send them off. Along with my medical questionnaire. Yes, a year later, I was mainly trying to find a job after graduation.

December 28, 2009 - All of my recommendations are in (Thank you to Vasav, Charles McCready, and Mr. Hunt).

December 30, 2009 - My recruiter in New York calls me while I'm in Colorado for Christmas, we schedule an interview on the January 13.

January 13, 2010 - Interview and Nomination for Eastern Europe/Central Asia region teaching Secondary Education English.

January 14, 2010 - Set up my doctors appointments.

January 20, 2010 - Medical forms mailed to me.

January 28, 2010 - Arranged to have my blood drawn early so I wouldn't be wasting time.

February 4, 2010 - Eye doctor and dentist visit. I got new glasses, sweeeeeet.

February 5, 2010 - Physical, almost everything is done, but I need ALL the shots, and nobody can find my immunization history. It's with my old pediatrician. Doctor decides to order titers... Plus give me a tetanus and influenza vaccine. I have the PPD test. I get my titers done then. BIG snowstorm hits that shuts down Peace Corps.

February 8, 2010 - Mental health forms completed, I'm not crazy. In fact, according to my psychologist, I am very mentally healthy... very good to know.

February 5-14, 2010 - I constantly go back and forth to my doctors trying to get my information and get the doctor to fill everything out. I got my vaccination info, and brought it to them. PPD came out negative. Blood tests show I'm about as healthy as can be.

February 15, 2010 - Got my Polio booster and all forms. I triple check everything and send it off.

February 23, 2010 - OMS says they have received my information, and I am dentally cleared.

March 8, 2010 - Medical clearance.

March 9, 2010 - Education Desk e-mails me for updated information.

March 10, 2010 - Call from OMS, Placement wants some information about a medical issue. I am told that a hold is put on my account until I send in a personal statement. I write it quickly and fax it in.

March 16, 2010 - Call from PO, discuss a change of departure and given notice that an invitation is being FedExd to me.

Dental Clearance... Done

So I mailed my medical forms on the 15th, but the Peace Corps didn't notify me that they received them until the 23rd, but I was simultaneously given dental clearance. Not unexpected, my teeth are pretty awesome. So it also says:

"Peace Corps received the results of your physical exam on February 23, 2010. If the program you are nominated for is not scheduled to leave in the next 4 months you may not hear from Medical until the time of departure is closer. Currently those programs scheduled to leave in the next 4 months are being reviewed. For applicants leaving within 4 months Peace Corps may request additional medical information. Please respond quickly to these requests."

Since my program is scheduled to leave in late May, I should be getting priority, but we shall see. I am going to make a time-line for anyone who is interested in joining the Peace Corps. Right now I seem to be a little ahead of schedule, but that could easily change. Still, I find myself checking the Toolkit every other hour, sometimes to see if anything has been updated (which it never is, and they'd e-mail me if it did), but usually just to stare with amazement at all the check marks next to each thing I need to do.

Also, I find it interesting I am writing this. I haven't told any of my friends of family that I started this blog, so I really doubt anybody is reading it. Cathartic maybe? Oh well. I am going to try and figure out how I'm going to make this time-line.

It's Been A While

So quite a bit has happened since my last posting. I had my interview, which went pretty amazingly. I'm serious. The interview is supposed to only be 1-1.5 hours. I was there for over 2 hours and had a great conversation with two female volunteers. One of the girls served in Turkmenistan while the other one served in Romania. They were really nice, but they asked me a lot of questions that was meant to measure how dedicated, flexible, and capable I was. At the end of the interview the lead interviewer told me that she was planning on nominating me later that day for the Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region around the Caucasus mountains. If given an invitation I will be leaving in late May of this year. This would be VERY soon. All I had to say was "Sweet". They explained to me that be nominated does not mean a guarantee of me going, and I still had a long medical review process.

I immediately made me appointments for the doctor, eye doctor, and dentist. I got my medical forms about 2 weeks after my nomination. So about a week and a half ago I had all my appointments, but I still needed some shots and I had to find records of my immunizations. I also had to get some titers done. Then the snowstorm hit, and put me back a day or two. I just sent in my forms, about 25 days after receiving them. Now I'm freaking out about getting clearance.

Oh, I found out through all this that I have an extra wisdom tooth.