Getting Close

Nearing the end of November, I'm starting to really actively thing about reactivating my application. I just can't decide on the right time. If I could do it now, I would in a heartbeat, but the nominations for when I can leave aren't open yet. I was suggested to reactivate in March, but I would *love* to do it in January, the first week of January, before I leave.

In the mean time, I think I am going to send my recruiter an updated resume and update on a couple volunteer things I've done, as well as a brief statement about be overflowing excitement and barely contained patience to reactivate my application! I'll do that tomorrow I think, I don't like e-mailing at night when I'm on the verge of getting tired and could potentially get wordy or miswrite stuff or not check my grammar/spelling. 

But that is a start, that email I'm sending will be a start to let her know I'm very excitedly on my way to reactivating my application!

Update: aaaaap I did it I did it! I got it proofread by awesome Sara before I sent it, and Sara and Brittany both helped with resume updates. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed for good news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so nervously excited!!!

Update: immediate out of office reply! my recruiter is out of office until December 1st...only a week, but noooooooo! I was hoping for a quick, positive reply. That's okay though, I will wait it out. Its a week, I'm patient, I can do it.

E-mailed My Recruiter

Having been thinking about my [hopefully] eventual joining of the Peace Corps, I thought it was time to e-mail someone. I might as well start gathering information about how I might go about reactivating the application, and if based on my timeline, I'll be able to reactivate it or if I will have to reapply and do everything over (ugh). I wrote:

Dear Hazel,

Hi, back in the February/March/April time you were acting as my recruiter and interviewed and nominated me. I recently declined my invitation to El Salvador for several reasons. One reason was that I felt I needed more time to prepare myself for that amount of time abroad. Another reason, a very big reason was that even though I am qualified, I feel I need to have some more "practical" experience on my side before I should move to a site where the community is counting on me. I feel that I could do the work had I accepted, but that if I get more real-life experience first, I will be able to give much more to a community.

That said, in October I will begin volunteering at The Literacy Center in my community, and possibly the Boys & Girls Club (also volunteering as a tutor). In January, I will be moving to Shanghai for a year to teach English. I feel this will help me gain a lot of practical experience on multiple levels.

I think my application is "deactivated"--if that is the right term. I was hoping to reactivate my application summer of '09, but due to TEFL in China, I wouldn't be able to leave until early 2010. I was wondering if that would be too early to reactivate it. If so, I am more than willing to go through the application process again. I realize that getting a nomination and invitation will be substantially harder now that I've declined an invitation, but I am willing to work hard for it. I am 100% dedicated to becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer, but I feel that right now I just need that extra push in experience to be able to best serve, and that by 2010 I will have hopefully gained it.

Thanks for all your time. I cannot express how much I appreciate everything you did back then and now this.

Sincerely,

Jenna Walker

She e-mailed me back this morning. She always did answer e-mails quickly. So this was her reply:

Hello Jenna,

Sorry you could not accept the first assignment. As long as you can be reached by email and phone, you can go ahead and seek a reactivation of your application in summer of 2009. However, if my counting is correct, you will have to start over and submit a new application because, by then, the application we have on file would have been withdrawn for over a year. Good luck to you.

Hazel
Regional Recruiter
Diversity and 50+ Liaison
PCV-Lesotho, Southern Africa 2003-2005

I'm glad her e-mail was helpful and nonjudgmental. Not to say that I expected her or anyone else to be (tho a handful of people have been)...its just that, its not really the best topic--declining and invite. She's always been great--always responds promptly, very nice, very helpful. Good recruiter in my opinion!

Okay, so I see what she's saying, 100%. I think in July, I will call and see if I can reactivate my application for an early 2010 departure, or if it is too early. If its 100 early, I'll just reapply--that should still give me enough time for a February-June departure date I think?

I really do want to specify a region this time...I think that would be better for me. I'm thinking EE/CA, Africa, and Asia. That may change in time, I should also look at where my skills best fit, and decide exactly why I'd like each region and how I'd do better in one over another. Stuff like that. Really know before I go into this again. I think that may be how I tripped up a lot last time. Besides experience, I didn't think about where I could best personally flourish or do my best with the community. Things to think about people, things to think about!

Nomination #4

Not even sure if this and the last have been "real" nominations. I guess they are though. Oh well. I finally broke down and e-mailed my PO, Amanda. To my surprise, she got back to me literally within seconds. My first thought was "oh no, she's out of office, and its an automatic reply"--that's how quick it was. But nope! She was really just THAT QUICK pulling up my info, processing it, writing a reply, and sending. She earns the medal of the day!! Anyway, this is what she sent me (minus any private info):

Hi Jenna,

Thanks so much for your flexibility on this.

Your email is very timely!

I actually just found out that the Eastern European country is unable to accommodate you medically so I submitted a new request for a Central-America Youth Development program. This particular program is scheduled to depart in mid/late September and there will be a spot held for you until we hear back from the Office of Medical Services.

I submitted the request on July 15th, and I will contact you as soon as I hear back from the Office of Medical Services.

In the meantime, I will keep my fingers crossed! J

Please feel free to contact me with many questions since I know what it feels like to play the waiting game!


Have a great day,

Amanda ********, RPCV Honduras

Volunteer Placement Specialist / IAP

Peace Corps Headquarters

So, now I'm back to being very close to my original nomination! 

Youth/Central America/mid-late September

I feel like the PC poster child for "be flexible in the PC!"

Assistant E-mail

The assistant to the PO e-mailed me today. He said he needed me to do 2 things before he could pass my file off to my PO for placement. He needed me to fill out another Romantic Involvement worksheet--different from the first one and asks mostly about if there are any changes in your relationship and stresses questions on "what if" scenarios about your relationship & the PC.

Next, he wanted an updated resume. I added my CMOE summer camp experience on there, that will end August 1st. I also added 2 certificates on there. I don't yet have them, but expect both this month and told him I would fax copies with I receive them. The first is for Adult/Infant/Child CPR & First Aid, the 2nd is for an online TEFL course I've been taking.

So I sent all of that off with the promise of faxing those certificates as soon as I receive them. Luckily, neither of those really effect them being able to place me, they are just extra things I've done.  Hopefully, I hear something in the next 2 days!!!!!!

You Have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

My medical screening assistant replied to my e-mail at 7:30 am her time.

Jenna,

We received your kit at the end of May. Your nurse has not yet had a chance to begin the review. This is our busiest time of year and we’re currently working to clear applicants that are leaving with earlier programs. We’re aware of your timeline and will do our best to help you make your program.

Thanks for your patience and let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help you out.

Best,

Lisa, Medical Assistant
Peace Corps Office of Medical Services

Again...you have got to be royally kidding me with a big f.u. They haven't even opened my medical file! What the holy hell! Ummm AUGUST PEOPLE! Its almost the beginning of JUNE! Like 2 months before I am leaving. Please, seriously, are they still clearing people for July? BECAUSE I DOUBT IT! Maybe a few here or there. But please, seriously!? That was just a big smack in the face for me to wake up to at 6:30am. Just ...ugh.

Several Things!

So I e-mailed my screening assistant today. I didn't get a chance to until late, unfortunately, because I was hoping for a response today, but I'll be waiting until at least tomorrow now. Oh well, right? Well, hope to hear something from her tomorrow. This is what I wrote, trying to be polite and concise:

Lisa,

Hi, I know you are probably swamped with work, but I wanted to touch base with you about the status of my medical kit clearance. I have received dental clearance, and am waiting on medical clearance.

It is possible that I will have a restriction, so I'm just hoping to be cleared sooner rather than later in case my nomination can't support the restriction. That way I would have as many departure dates as possible still open for my placement officer to work with.

Also, I wanted to see if your office needed any thing else from me for medical; I haven't heard of the need for any more forms or updates from me yet, so I hope I am good on that end! :)


Thanks for your time Lisa!
I appreciate it!

Jenna E Walker
SSN: ***-**-****

So that's it, nothing special, but I think it works.

Also, today I went to the bank because my CD (certificate of deposit) was up and I needed to do something with it. This holds it in the bank for a set period of time with a monthly percentage increase. I took some money out so I can get a new computer this weekend when I go to Indy. I put the rest back in for a 3.5% monthly interest rate. The big thing though is that I put it back in the bank, into the CD for TWO YEARS. It sorta hit me that yes it is going to happen and I've sorta already started doing stuff even before my medical clearance and invitation.

The other day, Wednesday, Thursday maybe? My sister, her fiance Cory, and I were at the mall...really just looking for pants for him and my Justin. Well, we got those. But then we fell into a shoe store. I found both Chacos and Keens at this place and decided to try them on to decide what I liked best. I really liked them both, but liked the Chacos better because their was more freedom and less chance of blisters. Then they asked what I'd be using them for. When I replied Peace Corps, probably in Latin America, they immediately got excited about Eccos and said I must try them on, they are the most comfortable shoe with great support and will last for years. They brought them out in my size and I thought "ehhh...no....I don't like what they look like really" but tried them on. As soon as I started to put my foot in I thought "oh shit, its over, its completely over, I'm done in." and couldn't help but buy them. I'm going to contact Ecco before I wear them to see if I can get a discount from them, if so I'll return them, if not I'll start wearing them ASAP. They are more comfortable than you could ever wildly imagine. They fit perfectly--even my wide flat feet--and had a great amount of support. 

If you are thinking about Chacos, Keens, or Tevas....definitely try Eccos on. They are pretty expensive, but insanely worth it, more than I could ever describe. Only your feet can describe how perfect they are!

Time

I think if I don't get an e-mail indicating Medical Clearance tomorrow, I'll send Lisa, my screening assistant an e-mail. I guess I'll quickly/politely ask about my status with everything and if I need to supply them with any more information. I'll state I'm anxious about it because it is possibly I'll have a restriction and if my nomination doesn't support that restriction, I want to have as many country departure dates as open as possible to work with. I think that pretty much sums it up briefly and nicely! I'm just anxious! If I didn't have a restriction, I'd still be anxious. How nice would it be for me to be cleared and they tell me I DON'T have an epileptic restriction!?!? Dream on, Jenna, dream on.

PO

I know I have a PO, but who my PO is, I don't know. :(

I know I have a PO because, as I mentioned a while back, I shot my recruiter an update e-mail and she said she was going to forward that onto my PO since that's who had my file.  Everything was out of Hazel's hands pretty much.  

Last night, I sent Hazel another email, asking for my PO's name and e-mail and/or phone. This morning I had an e-mail waiting in my inbox:

You should have received correspondence from the Placement Officer by now. The best I can do is to give you a general telephone number of the IAP Desk which is the office handling your nomination. It is: ###-###-####

Sad. I haven't gotten an e-mail from my PO. Then I got worried that I maybe accidentally deleted it or it got spammed! So I immeadiately got on my gmail account and searched my Trash and Spam files.  All of what had been put there for the last 30 days was there. Good because it was 30 days ago that I had my nomination.  I searched high and low in Spam and Trash, even looking at stuff that maybe possibly could've been a PO e-mail.  But alas, no PO e-mail. :(

Now I am sad, I don't want my PO to forget about me! And even if I call the IAP Desk, I don't know if they can track down my PO. So if I need to get ahold of my PO, about something really important (luckily I don't have to right now, but WHAT IF!) then how do I find my PO in an instant. :( I really hope my PO calls me or e-mails me with just a "hey, I'm your PO"

I do have a PO

Yesterday, I wrote an e-mail to my recruiter to give her a couple updates, let her know I was still in the loop.  I wrote about my Red Cross training next week, my TEFL class, future YWCA volunteering, and my decision to open up my placement to the Caribbean in case a change was needed. I'd previously said--anywhere, but not Caribbean, but I've decided otherwise since I first said that.

This morning, she e-mailed me back.  She said: 

I forwarded your email to the Placement Officer who has your folder. I no longer have it and am not in a position to add anything to it, or to effect any changes in your nomination. But, the update should be helpful, in any case.

So it is now official (tho it probably was before, just not to my knowledge) that I have a placement officer. I may e-mail her back asking for the name/e-mail of my PO. Anyway, I was happy to hear I'm on someone's desk in IAP and that the update will be useful!