Peace Corps

pmills

pmills

Active member
Anyone ever consider, hear stories, or actually serve in the peace corps? I'm having trouble figuring out what i want to do with my life and think that it will give me 2 extra years to think, and provide a great experience helping others
 
do it

iv heard from people that did it and they had the best experience of their lives and not one came out not knowing them self/what they want out of live more than before.
 
Yea my friend spent 2 years in the peace corps and was located in Kyrgyzstan. He said it was the best experience of his life and he really sees everything completely different now. Met a lot of new people, figured out what he wants to do, etc.

 
one of my good friends has been in guatemala for close to two years now, serving with the peace corps. he seems to love it- so much so, he wants to keep doing it when his stint is up this spring. i had the chance to visit him down there, and it seems like a pretty sweet gig. he has a nice little house in the super remote village up in the mountains. he works on putting in piping from fresh water springs to various other tiny villages in the area. i was at his house for about a week, and alot of the days, he didn't have much work to do. so after he sat down at his office for a while, we would just go for a hike or something. it seems like a pretty cool thing to do. i just don't know if i could commit for two full years.
 
My cousin has been near Fiji for a year in the corps. He wants to get an extension, he loves it so much. Definately something I'm considering once I get out of school.
 
Exactly what i'm looking for... a sense of direction, an ability to actually do something instead of just saying something should be done.

2 years sounds like a pretty long commitment, but life is just flying by anyways. It probably will provide a good break before grad school ---- if that actually is in my future.

any idea of whether or not it's random assignment to locations or if you get some sort of say in where/what you want to do?

 
have 3 close friends who have or are in it, two of them currently one in coasta rica and one in senegal. They both seem to enjoy it, both of them didn't seem to be happy doing the whole college/work thing and both felt they needed to do something meaningful with their lives, so that's what they did. From reading their blogs it would be tough getting adjusted to a 3rd world country, but they seem happier like they have a purpose now. Both are primarly setting up sanitary facilities and trying to improve drinking water quality. The third got kicked out for getting wasted at a corps meeting. Some of the stories she has told me seem insane, being a cute american chick living in a basically a shack seems to attract attention, not to mention getting worms.
 
I'm definitely considering doing peace corps when I get out of college.

From what I've heard, you could end up in a remote town with the closest other peace corps members days away. If anyone's actually done it or heard about it, do you know how hard ppl find it to be that isolated and out there on their own?
 
so, ive been looking over the site and maybe im dumb or just dont get it. i made up my mind and just applied but does it cost anything? other than maybe airfare to whatever region you/they choose?

ive been looking at a bunch of volunteer orgs and most of them make you pay for the entire thing - upwards of 3 grand for a 2 week period and shit which is wack. which is how peace corps came up because its an extended period of time which i like. you cant do shit in a few weeks anyway. some places even take multiple lifetimes to get them up to where they want to be and give them what they need. i like the multiple year thing but if its like any other org ive looked at it seems expensive. hows money work?

 
My dad was in it, he went to Morocco. He says it was the best experience of his life. It's where he met my mom.
 
you get enough money to live wherever you are, then they give you something like 6 grand when you get back to help get back on your feet i think
 
i didn't do it because they lost all my paperwork and i didn't have time to resubmit everything, but it's a great opportunity if you're 1000% sure you're mentally ready to be away from everyone you love for 2 1/2 years. sounds harsh, but trying to be realistic here. on the flip side, when's the next time that you're going to have a chance to make such a big difference in so many people's lives? if you're up for it, do it while you can.
one of my best friends is serving as a public health volunteer in gambia right now and every email i get from her sounds more amazing than the last. to answer people's questions about being isolated, she's in a remote village a day away from the nearest volunteer, but the supervisor checks in relatively regularly (every week maybe?) and she's 2 hours bike ride from a town that's large enough to get internet, have people that speak english, etc. so it's challenging, but that's kind of the point. they do several months of training to get you ready for the cultural immersion, but there's no doubt that it'll still be tough.
if you want to do service and find the peace corps intimidating, look into americorps. contrary to popular belief, it's not just teaching inner city kids how to read. there are positions in every imaginable field in every corner of the country. for example, i work as a residential energy analyst in bellingham, washington, managed to make enough money to pay the rent, feed myself, fly home to the east coast twice, and still ski all winter long. like peace corps, you also get to defer your college loans until the end of your service, and then at the end they give you an educational grant to use as you please. obviously you don't get the thrill of going abroad, but there are plenty of people here in the US that need help, and plenty of places that will culture shock the shit out of you. if making a difference is really what your aim is (which it should be either way), americorps can be a great alternative.
my two cents.
 
im kind of confused on this cause i submitted my app with recommendation letters and what not but i didnt complete college. which is why i want to volunteer haha. i did some college but didnt get a degree. so im basically out before i even started?
 
I'm pretty sure you can do peace corps without a college degree, but its a pretty selective program and most of the people they accept do have a college degree. If not, you usually need some work experience either in agriculture or other applicable areas.
 
my dad spent 3 years in Jamaica for them helping locals around and in kingston create and profit from local buisnesses, like a paper company tht made paper out of banana leaves and other recyclable materials. he said it changed his life. def something im looking to do.
 
My Dad was in Mauritania (NW Africa) for 6 months, he said it was absolutely amazing. Very harsh (he had to leave after getting an intense stomach virus), but he still talks about it 30 years later. I have a friend going to Africa in the fall, I have thought about it quite a bit myself, but two years is a very long time.
 
something ive thought about before, one of my professors was kept trying to "draft" us into it, i wish you could pick your location however
 
i think about it from time to time, but not more than a thought, but the idea sounds super kick ass, do it
 
i'm not doing anything with my life, so maybe i'll join, although at the moment i totally don't want to. i'm pretty retarded so i don't know if they could use me, anyways. do they need a guy to transfer a pile of rocks from one location to another or some bullshit like that?
 
My uncle joined the peace corps, and 2 weeks later my dad joins the marines. They both consumed lots of drugs, both saw horrible things, and both helped a lot of people
 
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