A note about Medical Pre-Clearance
If you have a complicated medical history, you are required to give PC certain information at this stage, but since I did not have any issues come up after answering the preliminary health questionnaire, I did not have any tasks at this stage of the application.
December 22nd - received background check forms and fingerprint kit
Find out about ID requirements for the county you live in. I needed a social security card, plus government-issed photo ID in order to get fingerprinted in the county I lived in, but a driver's license was sufficient in the neighboring county.
January 10th - mailed off background check forms and fingerprint kit
I was paranoid about getting the forms in late because I participated in a special course over the winter break, so I sent the forms Express Mail on the 10th after 4 pm on a Thursday and it arrived on Monday, January 14th, at the Peace Corps DC office.
In my last communication with my recruiter, she mentioned that a way to make my competitive review go more quickly was to have more current experience in teaching ESL. I put a message out on Facebook, looking for a student, and an instructor at my university put me in touch with a man from Iran who recently moved here. We met M/W/F for 2 hours each session for the month of February.
An assessment specialist with the Peace Corps had questions about the nature of my degree and conferral date. She could see that I had taken a certain number of hours, but mistakenly thought I was getting an Associate's degree because she did not realize that I had transferred classes from previous studies at another university to satisfy requirements from my degree from my degree-awarding institution.
I answered the email as best I could myself, and CC'd the Office of the Registrar and a professor from whom I needed a grade to complete my transcript, and everything was taken care of by lunch time, March 8th.
January 30th - began teaching private ESL lessons
March 7th - received request for graduation verification
I answered the email as best I could myself, and CC'd the Office of the Registrar and a professor from whom I needed a grade to complete my transcript, and everything was taken care of by lunch time, March 8th.
March 8th - received Peace Corps placement questions
After the assessment specialist received a PDF of my graduation verification, she emailed me with questions she needed answers to in order to complete my final assessment.
Here are the questions:
(1) Expectations – Part of preparing for Peace Corps service is developing realistic expectations of what life is like as a Volunteer, with specific attention to the common challenges Volunteers are likely to face. What resources have you used to learn about the realities of life as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)? What are the key lessons you have learned from these sources that will help you succeed as a PCV?
(2) Challenges – What are the top 3 challenges do you foresee as a Volunteer and what are some strategies you think you might use to overcome these challenges?
(3) English Education Programs – You are being considered for a placement in the Education sector. Please briefly list your teaching/tutoring experience. (For example: Sept. 2012- Dec. 2012 (2 h/w); Adult ESL Tutor; 11 students; Cleveland Park Public Library; Houston, TX).
(4) Teaching – What are your strengths as a teacher and what do you enjoy most about teaching?
(5) Physical Challenges – Do you know how to swim?__ Do you know how to ride a bicycle?___Are you able to walk for up to 2 hours at a time over rough terrain?___
(6) Legal Status - Since you applied, have there been any changes to your Legal Status not previously reported to Peace Corps? (For example, name change? lawsuit? marriage/divorce?, traffic citation over $200 or involving drugs/alcohol?, other charges?, new/additional financial obligations? Other?) ____
March 11th - emailed answers to questions back to Peace Corps
For Question 1, I talked about videos I had watched on YouTube, Peace Corps Volunteer blogs, stories I read on the Peace Corps RSS feed, and questions I had asked RPCV's (returned Peace Corps Volunteers).
For Question 2, I listed (1) overcoming cultural differences, (2) being away from family, and (3) being without the conveniences of home.
For Question 4, part one, I included among my strengths the fact that I had studied in a wide variety of educational settings, studied foreign languages basically my entire life, am familiar with a wide range of methodologies for teaching that I had learned during my studies and integrated into my teaching methods, and am particularly skilled in pronouncing and teaching pronunciation in foreign languages.
For Question 4, part two, I stressed my desire to help others achieve their dreams, and drew attention to the fact that my degree in sustainable living would help me create meaningful secondary projects in my host community.
For Question 2, I listed (1) overcoming cultural differences, (2) being away from family, and (3) being without the conveniences of home.
For Question 4, part one, I included among my strengths the fact that I had studied in a wide variety of educational settings, studied foreign languages basically my entire life, am familiar with a wide range of methodologies for teaching that I had learned during my studies and integrated into my teaching methods, and am particularly skilled in pronouncing and teaching pronunciation in foreign languages.
For Question 4, part two, I stressed my desire to help others achieve their dreams, and drew attention to the fact that my degree in sustainable living would help me create meaningful secondary projects in my host community.
