hello there placement...

so i decided to email my placement assessment assistant last night to see if there was any new information she could give me on the status of my file. it's only been two weeks since they asked for an updated resume so i knew this was a long shot... in essence, i told her the predicament i am currently in, having just been offered an awesome job but unsure whether to accept it or not being that i could be leaving as early as april (but as late as ...). her response is what you might expect: 

Congratulations on your job offer!  I hope all is well otherwise.  I am very sorry but I cannot offer much guidance for you at this point.  We are doing our best to contact everyone, and I will note your predicament in your file.  If you would like to, I could potentially move your availability date back to past June, and then you might be able to pursue both this opportunity, and Peace Corps.  However, if your preference is to get started with PC as soon as possible, I hate to say that I cannot give you any idea of what is in store for you at this point.  If you did want to change your availability, let me know as soon as you can, and I will update your file.  Keep in mind that if you say June 15, 2011, that means that we will consider you for any programs AFTER that date, and that will not mean you will leave in June, but may leave a few months after that.  Thanks for your enthusiasm for Peace Corps and best of luck in making this difficult decision.  Let me know if you have any other questions!

"ahhh. no i don't want to change my availability!!!", i responded (in a much more refined manner) just a few minutes later...bleh. i understand she wasn't going to tell me some new, earth-shattering information on my status, but nothing at all?? not even a clue? i'm just a little deflated. i know some people have had luck contacting placement and getting at least a morsel of information. i was not as lucky... this process would just be so much easier if i had the slightest idea of an end date to this perpetual waiting...i sense a bad bout of RAS coming on...

application timeline

below is a vague timeline of my application process thus far. ive read through a ton of these over the past year and its given me hope/perspective when RAS was out of control. hope mine can do the same for one of you. 


end of feb 2010 - submit application
end of march - interview with recruiter and nomination> c/sa community development feb.2011
mid april - receive medical paperwok
june-sept.- complete medical and dental paperwork
last week of sept.- submit medical
first week of oct.- dental clearance and a medical hold goes on my file (under review)
second week of oct- call from my nurse explaning additional paperwork that needs to be filled out
last week of oct- fax back the last of additional paperwork
mid nov- mid dec- series of pc nurse requesting paperwork and me submitting it promptly.

dec 22nd- deadline for medical clearance comes and goes. i email placement to see what the status is and find out my program has been filled

dec 23rd- i call to see what the hold up is but my nurse is already gone until the first of the year
jan 9th- i call again. she requests yet MORE paperwork which i submit later that day. she verbally clears me
jan 12th- toolkit update: medical clearance
jan 19th- placement requests updated resume and final transcript. i submit 2hours later and call to make sure it was received. my placement and assessment assistant informs me they will  "let me know when they are ready to work with my file."

...

very first post

it only seems fitting that after months of adamently stalking all of your blogs, i should finally give in and join the dialogue. i just want to apologize in advance for how much i'm bound to repete myself in this blog, which i assume will mostly consist of two themes: how tired i am of waiting and how much i desperately want to be a PCV.
...RAS has its peaks and valleys and, for me, it changes every day. sometimes every hour. the most trying hurtle for me lately has been the 20/20 special. i was unassumingly watching tv with both my parents when it came on. and after that kind of sensational blitz it is really hard to find the words to articulate why you still want this so badly. for me, peace corps has always been something ive had a difficult time articulating. i want it so badly on so many levels that, yes, i am willing to put myself at risk. im not naive. i comprehend that moving, alone to a third world country is not as safe as living in scottsdale with my parents. but i dont want to ever let fear hold me back from experiencing something phenomenon. it seems most RPCVs i talk to say their experience was nothing like what they envisioned it to be. i want to know what they know, see what they've seen. i'm so sick of living in a culture dominated by mediated experiences. i want to go somewhere and experience it for myself...and yes i'm well aware that that can be done anywhere...but i want the sensation of total immersion in something so utterly foreign that i can't even fathom it from where i stand right now, in my cozy house, with my cup of tea and sweatpants....call it romantic. call it ridiculous. i want it. and always have wanted it. and won't be satisfied until i get it...