After accepting your Peace Corps assignment, the Peace Corps requires Invitees to complete an aspiration statement and a resume to be sent to the country desk of where you were invited to, Romania in my case.
The following statement will be submitted in the next couple of days:
Expectations…
Expectations are just like any other thing that you plan on; some of which will occur but the vast majority of my experience will not be expected. I know that life in Romania will have its ups and downs and I also know that being a Peace Corps volunteer will be among the most difficult and rewarding years of my life. I expect to be challenged by the language and Romanian culture. I expect pre-service training to prepare me with a foundation on which I can be an effective volunteer in my community. I know that I will not make a difference immediately but with time and patience, I will plant the seeds of success as a teacher in the community. Finally, I expect my Peace Corps service to be more rewarding than I can imagine.
Strategies for adapting to a new culture…
The first strategy that I will employ in adapting to Romanian culture begins at home; reading about the culture, familiarizing myself with the language, and reading PCV blogs in Romania and other Eastern European countries. I understand though, that I cannot accept anything to be what I expect it to be. I will rely on flexibility and being able to listen to advice when given to help me adapt to the community. I will rely on my language, cross-cultural, and technical training to allow me to be effective.
Personal and professional goals…
My joining the Peace Corps is not based from a decision over what I want to do with my life after college. Instead, it is rooted in my firm belief in contributing to the good of the world in a setting that will help develop my own skills. That said, my personal goals as a Peace Corps volunteer are simple; to be adept enough in the language to function with others around me, participate in cultural events around me and to complete my service. Professionally, I hope that my Peace Corps experience will assist me further developing a skill-set that I can use throughout my life. Whether I pursue a path working as a teacher in the United States or in the international community, pursue a path in the State Department, or some unknown path, I plan on using the knowledge and experience that the Peace Corps provides to be a better person at home and in the world.
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4 comments:
Chris, congrats on your acceptance. I do have a little worry about what you wrote in your aspiration statement.
Chris, you need to have a clear idea of what you are wanting from PC life. Your final section of your statement worries me. Without having a clear idea of what you wish to gain from PC allows you to fall into a "how awful it is category". When you get to PST, you will see what I mean.
Do youself a favor before you get to Romania. Be sure you understand what you need. How you will gain something from PCV life. Without it, those Romanian winters will get very long.
Chris,
Henry is right. If there's one piece of advice I can give you, and I'm sure I'll be able to give it to you in person during PST, it's this: Be very specific with the staff about what you want to gain from this experience. During PST you are going to have a site placement interview. You will need to be very specific about what you want, or else, like Henry said, the winter is going to be very long. Drop me a line at rsfenwick@yahoo.com if you'd like me to give you some more details.
Scott Fenwick
PC RO TEFL Group 20
Piatra Neamt
chris, your statement is fine. keep an open mind, be ready to work at god knows what and be yourself.
see as much of ro as you can but always remember your site is HOME, not a place to dump your stuff.
make real friends with people in your town. they can explain the insanities of life and will help you regain your balance (and maybe share a beer with you) after the posta people rifle through your long-awaited package from home. besides, that's kind of the point - getting to know new/different people.
really - keep an open mind. the balance between helping and being a royal pain in everyone's arse can be very fine.
ask questions. ask questions. ask questions.
you get out of pc what you put into it - just like so many of life's adventures.
and romerican is very right - esp about the taxis - get out if the meter isn't running. don't worry about being rude.
if you want to chat with a transylvania gr 12'er (2001-2003, plus 2 more years in buc), drop me a line - crcurrentATyahooDOTcom
SUCCES!
Hi there! i was researching Romaina on the net and stumbled upon your blog. I too am leaving for the peace corps to Romaina and was wondering if we were on the same trip. Do you leave on May 15th too? It would be nice to get to know someone else who will be in Romaina with me before I get out there. Lemme know if you wanna chat or just drop me an email. My name is Maggie and I am from Berkeley, California. My email is mmeehana@ucla.edu
I hope to talk to you soon. Take care.
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