“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” - John F. Kennedy, 1961
The Peace Corps has three goals:
1) To provide volunteers who contribute to the social and economic development of interested countries;
2) To promote a better understanding of Americans among the people whom volunteers serve; and
3) To strengthen Americans’ understanding about the world and its peoples.
• I personally do not know any current or returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and that has been quite difficult. My main source of information, other than the Peace Corps website, has been blogs. I have read countless blogs dedicated to the entire process, from the application stage all the way to the actual service. The blogs discuss intimate details of the individual’s day to day experiences, from the weather, to the local people and the projects they’re working on.
• The areas of focus I feel I would be most prepared to serve in are Environmental Education and with at-risk youth.
o I would feel prepared to work in Environmental Education because I have a lot of experience in this field. I was an AmeriCorps member for 2 terms and I worked with the Energy Service Corps for 2 and a half years. The goals of Energy Service Corps were to educate children grades kindergarten through 12th grade on the importance of energy efficiency and to weatherize homes for people with a low income in order to help reduce their utility bills. I enjoyed working in this program very much, I learned a lot, I gained a lot of teaching experience (learned where my weakness and strengths are when it comes to teaching), I got to meet some fantastic kids and educators, and learn about programs that different schools had in place to help fight the battle against global warming.
o Another Area of focus I feel very passionate about is youth development, specifically At-Risk youth. I studied Criminal Justice through college and I had the opportunity to learn under some incredible professors. Almost every single teacher I had was part time, as they all had full time jobs within the criminal justice system. I was taught by Parole officers, Probation officers, researchers and Cops. From the very first class I was very interested by what makes a young teen commit a crime. I was very naïve and limited in my knowledge before I began learning about our system and how it deals with these Juvenile offenders. What I realized very quickly was that little was done to help the juveniles before they entered the system, they were only acknowledged after they had already committed an offense. Now I realize that the country of service I’ll be working in probably won’t have a criminal justice system as advanced as ours. But there are mischievous youth everywhere in the world. The consequences however are much more tragic and severe in less developed countries. Some of these kids end up being trafficked for labor or sex, some become life-long criminals and some join gangs. Whatever path they take, most of them are hazardous, so they end up becoming the perpetrator or the victim, neither is an option in my book.
• I think it’s important to understand that it’s not easy getting used to living a life so different to the one you are accustomed to, a life without the tools and appliances that make our lives so easy and efficient here in the States. That doesn’t mean it won’t be a blast getting to learn to live without them. I can’t even imagine how awesome it would be to be completely self-sufficient.
• One thing I am definitely nervous about is dealing with the bugs. Living in America, you don’t usually come into contact with a lot of insects on a day to day basis, maybe, a fly or a spider or a bee, here and there. But in these tropical climates, the variety of critters is extraordinary! :(
• I have been through enough challenges through my life to know that the more effort and hard work I put in, the more rewards I’ll get back. When it comes to getting used to the new lifestyle, culture and people, I’ve been through that before. I moved to the United States from Kenya at 16 and went to live straight in the dorms at college. Initially it was terrible, I was homesick, lonely, and everything was so new and intimidating to me. I broke under the pressure and my grades suffered as a result. Over the years I learned how to deal with the stress and overload of emotions I felt at that time. I have always been an avid reader, so I learned to channel my loneliness through my books. I joined clubs and got more involved on campus, I also began to make friends, as I wasn’t cooped up in my room all day. This experience definitely taught me that the more busy you keep yourself, the less time you have to worry about how far away you are. Also, being an active member of a community helps you meet people just like you, who are working towards similar goals.
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