Why Peace Corps??

From the beginning, when I first decided to join the Peace Corps, responses have run from hot to cold. I would get comments like, "after spending so much on and education, why would you volunteer and make no money?" Or questions after I found out I was going to Kenya, "Africa!?! Isn't it HOT there?" And many more responses.

I would just like to clarify, if I can, why I am joining the Peace Corps. I once heard a quote that the Peace Corps starts its weeding out process with the application process because of how long and tedious it is. I would have to agree with this. Someone who wants to join, really has to stick with it, and do each step, no matter how much you don't want to.

As for my reasons for joining the Peace Corps, I will try and put it into words, but the reasons are more complex because they are more emotional than intellectual. I knew after working at HP last summer that I would be entering my senior year in college with a four year degree in Imaging and Photographic Technology. HP was a great company to work for, but I realized during that time, that the engineering side of my degree is not really for me. I am much too much of a people person to be stuck in a lab doing research. I knew I needed a job that was more people oriented and would allow me to travel.

If anyone really knows me, they know that I will see the world some day. I also realized that I was not ready for the 9 to 5 lifestyle that being in the "real world" entails. I like having off hours and working in different settings. I have also realized throughout my travels and throughout my young life that I adapt easily and am ready to relocate and meet new people at all times. I always make friends wherever I go, so I am not worried that I will not be able to acclimate to a new environment.

When I applied for the Peace Corps, I also put in that I had no geographical preferences. This is because I don't. Like I said before, I am going to see the entire world some day, so it wouldn't matter if I was in Africa or the South Seas, either way it would be a new area of the world to explore and meet new people.

The idea of joining the Peace Corps came from two different sources. One was from my Pastor. I had proposed this idea of mine to her to see what she thought. She suggested that before I go through with this idea, I should maybe look into a service like the Peace Corps. But like any good advice, I scoffed and said, "they wouldn't take me...what would they do with my zany education?" Then one day I was having dinner with another friend and he said how when he gets out of school as an information technology student, that he would like to join the Peace Corps but his parents weren't supportive. He explained that a lot of countries supported by the Peace Corps need people with computer experience. This struck a cord, and that night I thought many deep thoughts. I considered where my life was going, what was I going to do, how was I going to get there. And the next morning I immediately got up and started researching more and more about the Peace Corps and talking to RPCVs. It sounded more and more feasible and more like something that would suit me.

I started the application process almost immediately. I then talked to my parents about it, and they were 100% supportive and said that it sounded like something that would be for me. I would get to be with people, helping them, and I would get to go somewhere new and 'exotic'. In reality, what is two years of your life, but a small dot in life. If in those two years I can do something worth wile to enrich others lives as well as my own, why not? I feel that I have never been a materialistic person, though I do have a lot of stuff (the two truck loads coming home from college would attest to that) and money is not my primary goal in life....happiness is.

I hope that this gives you an idea of what I feel and why I want to go. I could write a book with more reasons and explanations, but I think this was a good start.