ANYWAY, let's start with the reason I am writing a blog. In February I will be leaving to go work in Madagascar with the U.S. Peace Corps and this is my way of keeping in touch. I am so excited and I cannot believe that one of my biggest life dreams is coming true!
Above is a map of the continent of Africa with Madagascar conveniently labeled.
The process was pretty demanding and I actually could still end up not getting to go because the medical clearance has become complicated because of some awesome testing that I forgot to have done with my initial medical paperwork. But as of right now I am leaving for Madagascar on February 11, 2014 and I can't wait!
I'll give you the basic process as I experienced it, they recently redid the whole thing so someone applying tomorrow would experience something different but it was as follows:
1. Online Application (medical questionnaire, tons of random questions, resumes, cover letters, recommendations, etc.)
2. Interview (this is the first place they get rid of people, my interview was done on webcam since my recruiter was in Chicago -- Purdue -- and I was in Alexandria, VA for Spring Break)
3. Nomination (this isn't a guarantee in location or job but is the recruiter telling the Peace Corps they think you are an ideal candidate and that you would probably be good at "X" in my case community development)
4. Background Check and Medical Questions (you give the Peace Corps the information to do a background check and if your medical questionnaire left some questions for your suitability you would answer more questions at this point)
5. Selection Pool (now you are in a pool of Applicants that have been deemed suitable for work with the Peace Corps, you could be here for days or weeks or months)
6. Invitation (a Selection Officer reads your file and sees a good project for you and places you in a country and project area and sends you an invitation, you have one week to accept your invitation)
7. Medical Clearance, Orientation, Safety (TONS of medical paperwork, online paperwork, orientations online and an online safety course that all must be completed by 30 days prior to departure)
8. Staging and Pre-Service Training (where you meet in the US travel to your country with your staging group and go through up to 3 months of training in your country before you go to your site)
So I am still in step 7, I had some mix-ups with medical tests that I didn't get done so that is still where I am at but I need to be completely done ASAP! But it should be fine.
I realize I've been rambling but I wanted you all to know where my life is currently! So I guess I should give you a few other updates.
- I graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Management, a concentration in International Business, and a minor in Anthropology on December 15, 2013.
- I am about to leave for London for a week with my parents, my sister, Kate and my brother-in-law, Ron. As far as ways to spend time with family....I'LL TAKE IT!!!
- I'm also heading to California for a weekend to be with two of my best friends Alaina and Rosie and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!
-And I'm very lucky that two people in my life are coming to see me before I leave my friend Michelle and my cousin Rachel.
With all of these occurrences in my life I will hardly have time to breath before it is time for me to pack my bags and head to Africa! I can't believe how much my life is going to change in such a short period of time!
I promise I am going to post more soon but I wanted to get my first blog post out there so people find out it exists!
Side note: I will post my mailing address as soon as I know it but there are a few things to keep in mind:
1. International postage can be expensive
2. If you are going to write letters or send packages you need to number them because they tend to get lost or come out of order
3. If you want you can just send things to my mom and she'll send them when she sends me things (email me at chedden90@gmail.com and I'll give you her address)
Okie dokie I will be back soon but until then click and enjoy!
Best,
Chloe
