Peace Corps Options

[Aaron]

Any of ya'll have any experience in or with the Peace Corps? Seriously thinking about applying.

[Hartmann]

Any of ya'll have any experience in or with the Peace Corps? Seriously thinking about applying.

I have a friend currently serving in rural Ecuador and one in Albania / Serbia. Both enjoy it and love the experience of being somewhat cut off from the rest of the world focusing on helping a specific set of people.

[Mommy]

I've always heard about the peace corps stuff but I really know nothing at all about it. Everything I think I know about it are just assumptions. What are the benefits? Are they simply humanitarian?

[Aaron]

I've always heard about the peace corps stuff but I really know nothing at all about it. Everything I think I know about it are just assumptions. What are the benefits? Are they simply humanitarian?

Nothing Earth shattering, certainly. You get the opportunity to defer your Federal student loans (Stafford, etc.), receive some type of weekly or monthly stipend commensurate with the average person in your assigned area (i.e. whatever the locals make, you make) and $6,000 upon completion of your tour.

I would suspect that for most people who end up doing this sort of thing, the intangible benefits greatly outweigh the tangible... though I'm sure those vary widely from person to person.

What initially attracts me to the possibility of joining the Peace Corps: immersing myself in another culture, learning another language and seeing more of the world.

I mean, I'd lose two years of income and career development (which is not something that I'm too terribly concerned about), not to mention two years away from family, etc... but if I end up going through with it (big if at this point, obviously) I can't imagine I would look back on it 20 years later and regret joining up.

[chook]

I get to meet other cultures and sell them weapons.

But seriously, if you want to do it, go for it. Personally its like military service for myself, I wouldn't get to use my full knowledge to help out.

[jonathan83]

i almost did it Aaron.

ultimately i decided to teach English in Korea because it's very similar to the experience you want: immersing yourself in another culture, learning another language, and plus..the money is WAY better.

[Epic]

i have many friends who have served, or are serving in the peace corp

and most of the ones who are a few years displaced said it was such an amazing experience, but they mainly did it to "find themselves" and want to go back so that it would be more about the service and self exploration.

when i was considering it, they told me to take into consideration my motivations and whether or not that would be enough for me to be away for 27 months.

[Oasis]

Aaron, what do you do for a living?

[Aaron]

Aaron, what do you do for a living?

I work in IT. I'm part of the development team for a law firm here in Houston, but the only thing they have us developing are reports and the like.

Pretty meh.

[jonathan83]

i taught with this one chick at my last school who did the peace corps for the full 2 years or whatever, but liked teaching in asia much more.

anyway, you could teach english just about anywhere....latin america, middle east, korea, japan, china, thailand...eastern europe. western europe is the only difficult place (unless you're british).

[woody]

my friend is currently in Africa, he digs it so far. he's been there since Oct.

[Aaron]

Jonathan, what program did you roll with when you taught in South Korea?

[jonathan83]

not any program really. you can just look for jobs online really easily. the jobs are just with private schools over here, but you can find them through websites and private online recruiters. actually i'm still here, i'm on my 2nd year.

[Melanie]

I have a friend that worked in Uruguay and loved it. She built schools and stuff. She actually met her husband there.

[Oasis]

I work in IT. I'm part of the development team for a law firm here in Houston, but the only thing they have us developing are reports and the like.

Pretty meh.

For some reason I thought you followed Dean's career path and ended up writing for Rivals or Scout

[Aaron]

For some reason I thought you followed Dean's career path and ended up writing for Rivals or Scout

I had the opportunity to do that, but my dumbass decided to go for the job with health insurance.

I have literally regretted that decision every day since.

[Mommy]

Damn that sucks. You can't try applying for a position there again?

[Aaron]

Damn that sucks. You can't try applying for a position there again?

Not really... basically I worked with two guys who owned a Rivals.com 'franchise' (for lack of a better term), they offered me the opportunity to come on staff on a full-time basis. They've since brought on three or four part-time guys to fill that role, so joining back up with them really isn't a viable option at the moment.

[Aaron]

Started filling out my application yesterday... need to write two essays (no big deal) and get three letters of recommendation (pain in my ass).

[Oasis]

I'll write you a letter of recommendation

Not sure if it'll carry much weight though

[pysex]

just be sure you don't get stuck in some hellhole like ethiopia or something....


yeah it's sad what they're doing over there but be fucking sane and help people who WANT help

[jonathan83]

i believe you can pick the region where you wanna go, but not the exact country.

[pysex]

i believe you can pick the region where you wanna go, but not the exact country.

that's reason enough for me to fear volunteering

[Aaron]

that's reason enough for me to fear volunteering

Why? After you apply and go through the whole process, you receive an invitation to volunteer in a specific country. If you don't want to serve there, you can decline the invitation.

[pysex]

Why? After you apply and go through the whole process, you receive an invitation to volunteer in a specific country. If you don't want to serve there, you can decline the invitation.

does that end it there or can you wait for that specific country invitation?

[Aaron]

does that end it there or can you wait for that specific country invitation?

From what I understand, you can talk about it with your Peace Corps advisor (or whatever they're called) and see if you can work something out... but generally you're toast if you decline an invitation.

As long as you specify on your app where you don't want to go, you should be fine. If you indicate that you definitely don't want to serve in Africa, they aren't going to invite you to work in Benin or whatever.