Is the Peace Corps for you?
Is it for you?
By Darnell Morris-Compton
darnell.morris-compton@intakeweekly.com
You can't just up and leave America for Peace Corps on a whim. The application process requires thought and planning. If there are any medical questions or legal concerns that loom, those must be resolved long before an applicant can consider traveling. In spite of that process, people still leave without serving the full two-year stint, the biggest reason being because of a loved one left behind, said Scot Roskelley, spokesman for Peace Corps' Chicago office.
"One of the greatest reasons for people to leave the Peace Corps is that they have a romantic involvement. They left somebody behind, and they decide that they can't do that," he said. "Can you leave that person for 27 months?"
Here are some other questions to ask yourself if Peace Corps sounds attractive:
• How patient are you?
• How able are you to suspend judgment?
• Progress is very slow. Are you going to feel that you've failed simply because things are not progressing as fast as you want them to progress?
• Can you be satisfied with your experience when you see small steps of progress?
• Are you going in thinking that you are going to save the world? The progress you are going to make is going to be small.
• Do you have the ability to understand that these people have something to teach you?
Piqued your interest? Want to know how you can get into Peace Corps?
University of Indianapolis will hold general information meetings about the Peace Corps, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 25, in the Schwitzer Student Center Atrium. It is geared toward anyone interested in service.
The Peace Corps application process is a lot more complicated than this, but here's a simplified overview.
• Fill out a Peace Corps application, which can be mailed to you by calling Peace Corps at (800) 424-8580 or download the form electronically at www.peacecorps.gov.
• Regional Peace Corps officials will contact you to schedule an interview.
• Follow Peace Corps instructions to gain medical and legal clearance to leave America.
• A complicated system of matching your skills, desires and suitability with country needs take place.
• Peace Corps informs you of a country or countries that match all the criteria. Upon your acceptance, you're sent an invitation to the country.
• Peace Corps' closest regional office is located at 55 West Monroe St., Suite 450, Chicago, Ill. 60603, or at Indiana University's Bloomington Campus. Contact Tom Bonnenfant at the Career Development Center located at 625 N. Jordan, (812) 856-1864. The Chicago office number is (800) 424-8580 or (312) 353-4990. The fax number is (312) 353-4192.
