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Moon Slayer posted:Did they outright reject you and say "start over" or did they just tell you "get 30 hours of volunteer time before your application can proceed?" Because everyone needs to get 30 hours of volunteer teaching in before they get into Peace Corps. I've never taught in my life, and I never heard anything like that during my application. You may need 30 hours of volunteer experience in general, though -- I've done a fair amount of volunteering in recent years.
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Mar 23, 2011 15:51
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Fuschia tude posted:I've never taught in my life, and I never heard anything like that during my application. You may need 30 hours of volunteer experience in general, though -- I've done a fair amount of volunteering in recent years. Are you actually in or are a returned volunteer? If there was anything that was a sticking point for education placement in my experience, that was it.
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Mar 23, 2011 16:00
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Fuschia tude posted:I've never taught in my life, and I never heard anything like that during my application. You may need 30 hours of volunteer experience in general, though -- I've done a fair amount of volunteering in recent years. So just 30 hours of volunteering? This is the exact text from the email: "Currently, our highest need is for applicants with interest and experience in English teaching. A willingness to gain at least three months or 30 hours of English, foreign language or literacy tutoring/teaching experience at the middle school, high school or adult level will make you more competitive for service. Please note: the minimum GPA for our Education programs is 2.5. We are also looking for applicants with leadership, health education, farming, and/or youth experience. Once overseas, Volunteers may engage their local community with a variety of special projects outside their core assignment area."
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Mar 24, 2011 16:27
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You need to have 30 hours of volunteer English teaching to be an English education volunteer. I'm pretty sure that work experience is also accepted, but that would be something you will have to ask your recruiter. I can't speak to what the requirements are for the other kinds of volunteer work, however. Getting the 30 hours is really easy! I did it in a week!
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Mar 24, 2011 18:02
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Moon Slayer posted:You need to have 30 hours of volunteer English teaching to be an English education volunteer. I'm pretty sure that work experience is also accepted, but that would be something you will have to ask your recruiter. I got all of mine by working (not volunteering) at my old high school as a substitute teacher. Work experience is definitely accepted.
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Mar 27, 2011 13:43
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Just got back from my interview and things went pretty well, I'd say. My recruiter did mention that while I do technically qualify for English teaching (due to tutoring experience in college) as well as Information Technology (due to my major), it would be wise for me to get some classroom experience to make my application more competitive when the time comes for nominations in May. Unfortunately, I work full time and getting time off to do volunteer teaching will likely be next to impossible. Does anyone think my chances will suffer too severely if I can't get the time in? Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of a good way to find out what opportunities are available in my local area, that'd be a huge help. So far, everything I've found via Google requires some sort of certification that I don't have.
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Apr 6, 2011 04:28
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Darfuri War Orphan posted:Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of a good way to find out what opportunities are available in my local area, that'd be a huge help. So far, everything I've found via Google requires some sort of certification that I don't have. Have you tried idealist.org or volunteermatch.org?
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Apr 6, 2011 17:12
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Darfuri War Orphan posted:Just got back from my interview and things went pretty well, I'd say. My recruiter did mention that while I do technically qualify for English teaching (due to tutoring experience in college) as well as Information Technology (due to my major), it would be wise for me to get some classroom experience to make my application more competitive when the time comes for nominations in May. Unfortunately, I work full time and getting time off to do volunteer teaching will likely be next to impossible. Does anyone think my chances will suffer too severely if I can't get the time in? quote:Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of a good way to find out what opportunities are available in my local area, that'd be a huge help. So far, everything I've found via Google requires some sort of certification that I don't have. I posted this last page: quote:When I got nominated my recruiter gave me this in an email Just got into Surabaya. Peace Corps accommodations for hotels in San Francisco and Hong Kong were both surprisingly classy. Ready to start training tomorrow.
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Apr 7, 2011 16:24
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RagnarokAngel posted:Just got into Surabaya. Peace Corps accommodations for hotels in San Francisco and Hong Kong were both surprisingly classy. Ready to start training tomorrow. Good luck. Keep us up to date as much as possible, it's always neat to see where people who join end up. EDIT: Got off my lazy rear end and added some stuff to the OP. As always, if you want something added just say so. I also see several people in the OP who look like they are now RPCV's. Let me know if that's the case. Moon Slayer fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Apr 7, 2011 |
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Apr 7, 2011 16:51
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How would a government shutdown affect the Peace Corps? I can't imagine it could affect those already serving, but could it disrupt the process for applicants/invitees?
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Apr 8, 2011 01:20
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RagnarokAngel posted:Just got into Surabaya. Peace Corps accommodations for hotels in San Francisco and Hong Kong were both surprisingly classy. Ready to start training tomorrow. Holy moley am I ever jealous. I went through Surabaya on my COS trip, cool area. Get out to Mt. Bromo as soon as you can. And like Moon Slayer said, be sure to keep us updated, I'd love to hear what PC Indonesia is like.
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Apr 8, 2011 08:48
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Cras posted:How would a government shutdown affect the Peace Corps? I can't imagine it could affect those already serving, but could it disrupt the process for applicants/invitees? They actually talked to us about this in California during staging. It very well can affect future applicants, those already in won't be though.
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Apr 8, 2011 11:13
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I got in. My invitation is in the mail. An e-mail said: West Africa. Primary Teacher Trainer. Late June. According to the PCWiki, I will go to The Gambia. yay
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Apr 13, 2011 05:52
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Iwate posted:yay Speaking of which, how long should I be waiting for my medical documentation packet deal? It's running on about three weeks now...
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Apr 13, 2011 14:44
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Iwate posted:I got in. The President of the Gambia is one of the craziest motherfuckers in Africa. I think he might have recently made himself king...
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Apr 14, 2011 03:35
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Checking in with you guys, my training site ended up being fairly urban (For Indonesia) so a net cafe was easy to find. Just a few random thoughts, sorry for lack of direction just wanted a week to give my impressions to people who asked and those leaving soon. Going to avoid saying anything negative when I post because we're not supposed to and there's only 30 of us so it'll be easy to guess who did it should anyone find this. The good news is I don't really have anything bad to say. Peace Corps has been very informative and helpful and the bahasa Indonesian lessons while tiring are extremely helpful. I'm making more progress in a week then I ever did for any language in high school. Conditions here are far better than I expected. I'm not sure what I expected exactly but it's pretty comfortable here. I got lucky enough to be in the mountains so the temperature rather than being south east asia "oh god its hot" its a pretty comfortable temperature all day. Not much else I can think of at the moment really. Be glad to answer any specific questions if people have them, just wanted to check in.
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Apr 19, 2011 10:02
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Is it your training site that's in the mountains, or your permanent site? Probably too early for them to be announcing permanent sites, I guess... Which islands does PC Indonesia work on? Do they have anyone on Sumatra? How far east does it go?
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Apr 19, 2011 12:46
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Three months ago my recruiter told me this next year's nominations will start in early May. Is this the case?
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Apr 19, 2011 19:32
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RagnarokAngel posted:Checking in with you guys, my training site ended up being fairly urban (For Indonesia) so a net cafe was easy to find. Just a few random thoughts, sorry for lack of direction just wanted a week to give my impressions to people who asked and those leaving soon. I said whatever I wanted to on my blog and I'm fairly sure the higher ups saw it. Peace Corps can blow me if they think they were gonna pressure me to censor myself.
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Apr 20, 2011 06:36
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Evil Adam posted:I said whatever I wanted to on my blog and I'm fairly sure the higher ups saw it. Peace Corps can blow me if they think they were gonna pressure me to censor myself.
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Apr 21, 2011 01:23
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CronoGamer posted:Is it your training site that's in the mountains, or your permanent site? Probably too early for them to be announcing permanent sites, I guess... Training, only been here for 2 weeks so too early, we had interviews for placement though. And we're only on the East Java province of Java Island for now. I don't know if they plan to expand as time goes on since the programs barely a year old but for now, only East Java. Evil Adam posted:I said whatever I wanted to on my blog and I'm fairly sure the higher ups saw it. Peace Corps can blow me if they think they were gonna pressure me to censor myself. I'm not censoring myself, honestly. Those were my honest responses. I just don't keep a blog because I can't write for the sake of it. Need an audience I guess. Also saves me the trouble of knowing someones watching me.
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Apr 21, 2011 12:24
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RagnarokAngel posted:Are you actually in or are a returned volunteer? If there was anything that was a sticking point for education placement in my experience, that was it. Sorry I missed this, yes, I'm an invitee. Just recently arranged my flight to staging, in fact. Again, I'm going to join the Health Information Communications Technology program in Ethiopia. Speaking of staging, the email mentioned we should wear business casual. What exactly does that mean in the Peace Corps context? Polo shirts and khakis?
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Apr 22, 2011 04:28
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Fuschia tude posted:Speaking of staging, the email mentioned we should wear business casual. What exactly does that mean in the Peace Corps context? Polo shirts and khakis? That should work. Find some comfortable slacks and polos or collared shirts, and some comfortable shoes. You can probably find some lightweight slacks and shirts at REI. Try to find something that you can wear at site to conserve suitcase space. Good luck!
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Apr 22, 2011 16:00
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Grammar Fascist posted:We had a list of Peace Corps interview questions posted on our blog (some that we remembered, mostly a reposted list from some other Peace Corps listserv) and D.C. contacted our country director and asked him to ask us to remove it (apparently too many people were well-rehearsed for the interview, and our blog was a high result on Google). Our country director was really old and doesn't really understand blogs, but he was cool and told us he didn't care. I would be worried about blogging things that would be offensive to your host country or counterparts, but otherwise I felt free to post complaints and criticisms. Yeah, that's exactly what I got out of our session about blogging (did you guys have one of those during training, too?). It was kind of funny the stuff that people thought were "culturally sensitive". RagnarokAngel, if you're still around those parts when I COS next year, think I could bum a trip down there?
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Apr 25, 2011 00:44
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I've still got a couple years of school before my B.S. degree, but this thread is pretty interesting to read. I'll be getting my degree in Geology or Geophysics (haven't decided which, yet), and I'm curious if I could use that for some kind of tangentially-related work in the Peace Corps.
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Apr 25, 2011 15:32
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AceSnyp3r posted:I've still got a couple years of school before my B.S. degree, but this thread is pretty interesting to read. I'll be getting my degree in Geology or Geophysics (haven't decided which, yet), and I'm curious if I could use that for some kind of tangentially-related work in the Peace Corps. I also have a BS in geology and I am serving as a high school math and science teacher in Kenya. I teach Math, Physics, Health, and Geography, the Kenyan equivalent of earth science. I applied to the Peace Corps with the intention of teaching, so I don't know much about alternatives. If you take some kind of groundwater hydrology or aqueous geochemistry class though, I imagine you might have a strong enough background to work in water sanitation. However, you could also use your geological background in secondary projects based on the needs the or your community. I live in an agrarian society and they still have much to learn about soil conversation and effective farming techniques. Aside from that, I wasn't too sure of how I was going to use my degree either when I was applying. I don't think any of this was too helpful, but talk to your recruiter and good luck.
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Apr 29, 2011 05:52
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... Aaaaaand I got nominated to go to North Africa! It's looking like Jordan or Morocco!  Anything I should know about?
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Apr 29, 2011 21:52
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NeekBerm posted:Anything I should know about? Hope you enjoy being hot every day for the next two years! Seriously though, congratz.
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Apr 29, 2011 23:51
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Moon Slayer posted:Hope you enjoy being hot every day for the next two years! Hey, according to the peace corps wiki, I could "experience unbearably cold winters". I am so stoked!
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Apr 30, 2011 00:23
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Private Label posted:RagnarokAngel, if you're still around those parts when I COS next year, think I could bum a trip down there? By all means man, would love to meet some other peace corps goons.
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May 1, 2011 02:07
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I am writing my aspiration statement after my acceptance of my invitation. The prompt seems like a middle school essay, to the point of it seeming stupid easy. My girlfriend thinks I need to be concise. I think the PC want more examples. Basically, what is this aspiration statement all about? Is it worth putting a lot of writing? Or is my gf right in assuming being concise is better? What do those of you who have written it think? I feel I have answered everything, but I only have about a page. Does the aspiration statement really matter all that much?
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May 3, 2011 16:18
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Iwate posted:What do those of you who have written it think? I feel I have answered everything, but I only have about a page. Does the aspiration statement really matter all that much?  ), but those are the uses I know of. As long as your took it seriously, you'll be fine.
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May 4, 2011 01:47
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I've been considering this for about 2 years now and would like to do it maybe 2 years out from now. How expensive is it to get the medical check and everything like that?
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May 4, 2011 08:58
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TreFitty posted:I've been considering this for about 2 years now and would like to do it maybe 2 years out from now. How expensive is it to get the medical check and everything like that? Do you have insurance? I had barebones private insurance and only paid a co-pay for the physical, and then Peace Corps reimburses you up to $50 I think for the physical, something like $20 for the eye exam (cheapest I found was $50), and if you don't have any dental plan there is a list of dentists that will give you a free examination for Peace Corps. But you'll still have to pay to get any fillings done or wisdom teeth extracted.
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May 4, 2011 15:21
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It seems to vary depending on where you are. I got a little over $100 reimbursement for the medical, that's not counting the eye exam. Ladies get more than fellas since they often need extra stuff checked. But yeah if you have insurance it's pretty cheap, just routine checkups. The only expensive part for me was a polio vaccine which is expensive and a pain in the rear end to find a clinic with it (for me, your mileage may vary). If you don't have insurance, its probably prohibitively expensive. RagnarokAngel fucked around with this message at 02:24 on May 8, 2011 |
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May 8, 2011 02:22
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When I did my checkups, I had no insurance and the totals came out to around 1000 I think (which was and is a lot for me). Mostly I got bit by having to get the vaccines and typical bloodwork. I was eager to get my paperwork in so I could get invited.
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May 9, 2011 00:30
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If you have trouble finding vaccines, try your local health department. They usually have everything on stock, and it tends to be cheaper, too, depending on where you live. I think the most expensive thing on my exams was the blood work (~500 bucks, something crazy like that, because some of the specific tests weren't covered by my insurance) or getting an extra pair of glasses (~300). Didn't really need that last one, but it's recommended.
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May 9, 2011 00:44
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I'm about to start a volunteer program tutoring immigrant adults in English one on one for about 2hrs a week. Should I start the application process now, or do I need to wait until the 30 hours are complete? I don't have much other volunteer experience outside of when I was in Boy Scouts (being an Eagle Scout helps, I assume?)
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May 9, 2011 20:24
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You can actually try your butt without going to a doctor, just try holding a stick of any kind with yout buttocks. Make sure you realize that sucking it in is a normal reaction of your rear end and you will have made it going okay. Or just hold it so you don't feel like a homosexual sexualist. Wibder stuff is holding it (the dirk) with your hands and not feeling like a homosexual. However thare's rumored plenty of excitement with stucking stuff up your rear end. Just don't think it's by default with girls and it should be okay.
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May 10, 2011 00:42
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I don't remember the exact totals but I went to a local clinic and they did all my tests (physical, blood work and eye exam) for under $100. The shots and stuff were about $70. I got the dental exam for free.
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May 10, 2011 05:58
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