Nancy Parker's Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer
Peace Corps Survey
I'm sure that my everyday life isn't to interesting to read about, but this page will give you some background information and hear about my childhood I took a questionnaire with questions I had to answer before joining the peace corp. There are a lot of question s that illustrate how I was living regarding to the time. I have developed strong opinions about political events and I think that war is wrong. But, through many of my experiences, first-hand and not, I have slowly chartered my own opinions of how the world should be, and how the world really is. I guess most people would consider me a liberal feminist, and I guess I would just have to agree with them; I do look up to other people who are considered feminists, and agree with some of their more liberal opinions. This is some background information that will help you understand the person I have come to be and the person I was. I am hoping that it will give you a fuller understanding of the decisions I make and the opinions I have.
1. I currently, as of 1971, reside in Berkeley, California. Berkeley, being a college town has many people, with a population of 21,249,000.
2. I live in the Putnam Halls on 2650 Durant Avenue, its about one block from school. It’s a cement building in a complex with three other buildings. There are 16 floors and a total of about 230 people in each building. They’re coed floors with one large coed bathroom on each floor.
3. I share a room with one other girl. She’s not a very open person. I had a lot of trouble getting to know her. But she finally opened up a little, and we get along pretty well for the most part. I have friends all over the building so its not like I’m confined to only talking to my roomate.
4. I don’t have much time to shop because of my work and school schedule. Also, being a student with financial aid, I don’t have money to spare to go shopping every weekend, and if I did, I find that I don’t really have an interest in it. I just like to be comfortable, and my job working the in the Biology Department doesn’t call for any specific outfit, so I spend most of my time in my favorite blue jean overalls, I have two pairs actually, knit tops and my Birkenstocks.
5. I am an atheist because when I was younger my parents forced the Catholic religion (mostly just services) on me (my grandmother was very religious in her younger years) – so, now, as an adult I have made a decision to try to find spirituality through other aspects of life.
6. Our building is heated with electric heating. My roommate and I use a gas stove to cook our meals; but we eat about half of our meals in the dining hall. There are things called meal plans where when you pay board you can pay for the number of meals you’ll eat in the dining hall per week. I eat about ten meals a week in the dining hall. I save them for the nights I have too much work, and I don’t have time to cook. Depending on how much laundry I have, I either hand-wash the things I need immediately, or sometimes the other girls and I will pool our money and bring our clothes to a Laundromat. We have a clothesline outside the house, where we can hang things that need drying, but no one owns a dryer.
7. I currently hold a work-study job as a lab assistant helping in lab preparation in the Biology Department. I deal mostly with aquatic invertebrates. This job gives me an extra opportunity to gain more experience in biology and ecology.
8. I have been working there for about six months now. The position had been filled until then. Before that I still worked in the Biology Department, but my job consisted of cleaning test tubes and scrubbing lab tables.
9. I sort aquatic invertebrates using a microscope from stream
substrate samples, process algae and leaf samples assist with general lab duties, data entry and occasional field work.
10. My supervisor is a biology professor. I really enjoy his company in the lab. He is a very smart man and we have very good conversations about the classes. It’s almost like an extra class for me because I’m learning about ecology and biology while I am working, and he is always willing to answer all the questions I might have concerning the subject.
11. I get paid $11/ hour, which is more than I would get paid at any other job, and it’s just an added bonus that I really enjoy what I’m doing. But honestly any job would be good just as long as I am making money because I am getting a lot of financial aid.
12. No I will not being doing this job the rest of my life because it is a work-study job, and in order to do it, I must be a registered student at Berkeley.
13. No, I am not a member of a union.
14. 14. I am the oldest of two children and both my mom and dad are still alive.
15. 15. The youngest member is my younger brother, Sammy who is fourteen. My parents, Kate and Billy Parker were high school sweethearts and got married right out of high school, so they are both forty-four.
16. 16. On my father’s side, my grandfather, Randolph Parker died two years ago, in 1973, at the age of sixty-seven from a severe heart attack.
17. 17. Fortunately, my health has been very good lately. I think it is because I have been eating extremely healthily. I only eat organic foods. I also have recently started to take vitamins because I cannot afford to miss any work or classes on account of being sick. I also have semi-frequent checkups at the student health clinic located on campus.
18. 18. My family and I have always been very healthy, except for the occasional cold or flu. We do have our yearly checkups and get all of the shots we need, and we also make sure that if someone is really sick, the proper antibiotic is prescribed.
19. My wardrobe consists of a bunch of mismatched clothes, from a variety of places. I really don’t care too much about how I look, just as long as I am comfortable. I don’t have anything dressy on account of the fact that I can’t afford it, and even if I could, I have no use for dressy clothes because I don’t have time to do anything social which involves wearing a fancy dress. But my favorite things to wear are my jean overalls.
20. Yes, I am literate – I attend college.
21. Yes, my first language is English. I am currently studying Spanish in college.
22. In my free time, I read newspapers, magazines, and books. Right now I am finishing up a book called The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. It was published in 1963, and is often credited with the revival of feminism in the early 1960’s. It was recommended to me by a friend who had read it and loved it. It challenged the “ideology of domesticity,” which is why I found it so interesting. I completely support her views on equal rights and the fact that women should not be confined to the home.
23. My favorite meal right now is an organic tofu and bean sprout salad with a tamari dressing. I really only eat organic foods, they’re just better for you, and a lot more satisfying in the long run. A lot of kids here eat whatever they can get they’re hands on, which is almost always some kind of greasy food, and now they’re all fat. If you eat healthily, you will be healthy, and you will have less to worry about.
24. My average meal is something really simple, but healthy. For breakfast I normally have some granola and yogurt (organic), for lunch I have my favorite salad most of the time, and for dinner, I have been eating a lot of steamed vegetables lately. My friend just taught me how to make these really good marinated baked tofu cakes that I’m going to try out I’m happy with the way I eat.
25. My friends include others who share my concerns in world affairs. There are a lot of people I relate to at Berkeley. I’ve gotten to know the people on my floor very well. Also, my boyfriend has introduced me to all of his friends, most of which also attend this school. My best friend here is Sarah Cooke who lives one floor above me. Her and I take an environmental science class together, and share the same friends.
26. My main interest when I am with my friends is music. Sarah and I are strong supporters of Joan Baez’s music and the causes she fights for. She is a very influential women’s rights activist, so we are constantly listening to her music. I also love James Taylor, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles, which includes the music from John Lennon’s solo career.
27. I am not married, and will not even begin to consider getting married until I have an established career and I am settled into my life after college. My boyfriend Brian knows and understands this. We have a lot of common interests and believe in a lot of the same causes. He is constantly supportive of my belief in equal rights for women and he is also a very active member in Green Peace. I would love to join this, but I really do not have the time. But I attend whatever and protests and rallies that they have. His independent thinking and strong morals and beliefs are what made me most attracted to him.
28. Depending on my workload, I will either be with my friends on Friday and Saturday nights or I will be studying. If I am with my friends we normally like to go out to our favorite coffee shop to listen to folk music. There’s so much to do at Berkeley. There were often speakers that came to discuss political and environmental issues, depending on what was in the current events at that time. I also love to go to concerts and try to get tickets as often as I can. I went to a Joan Baez concert a few months ago; definitely one of the best times of my life.
29. Sunday, is absolutely reserved for studying. The whole day is set aside for school work. I find Sunday is the one day where I am guaranteed a set block of time that I can use to study.
30. My favorite place to go when I want to have fun is to my friends’ dorms because being with them is all I need to have a good time. We love to listen to music
31. I don’t necessarily feel I am in the mainstream just because there are a lot of drugs and sleeping around nowadays. I don’t feel the need to participate in these things, because I am happily paired with my boyfriend, and I don’t think I need drugs to have a good time. I tend to be a person who gets “high on life” which sometimes makes me feel like I don’t fit in with others attending Berkeley University.
32. On winter and spring breaks I usually visit Texas. I have an old Aunt Martha who lives there and I try to see her regularly. I also like to visit my grandmother in Massachusettes.
33. I’m not worried about anything long term. I really like to focus on the moment instead of obsessing over what may happen to me. I need to take things as they come. So my biggest concern right now is my schoolwork and getting it done. Something else that bothers me at the back of my mind is all of the college debt I will have. But as of now, I am doing whatever I can to earn money to pay back my loans, so there’s nothing more I can do about that.
34.The highlight of my life is graduating High School with high honors and then getting accepted into Berkeley.
35. One of the biggest regrets of my life was losing my virginity at age fourteen. I was way too young to put my body and mind through such an emotional experience. The worst part was that after I had sex with this older guy who was 16, at the time, he never looked or talked to me again. I was abandoned at the time that I most needed comforting and help. I really feel that I disgraced myself. I was pressured into doing something I wasn’t completely comfortable in doing, and by a man no less.
36. My highest priority in life at this time is my school work. This is what I have to focus on because if I want to be successful and have a career I need to do well now. It is also very important to me that I get the best education I can. Every one needs this. With female employment rising, I need to be prepared if I want to be at the top and reach the full potential that I know I am capable of.
37. The newest thing in my life involves my relationship with my current boyfriend of four months. I just had sex with him for the first time. The main reason I waited this long, was because of past experiences, I really needed to know he wasn’t just going to leave me after we had sex. My first time, involved having sex with a guy I had known around school but only really got to know him at a party, and then we had sex that same night. This was a big step in our relationship, but I was totally ready and have no regrets. I am glad I waited to get to know him before I just jumped into bed with him, because we were sure it was the right time.
38. The newest idea in my life is joining the Peace Corp. I haven’t joined yet, but I am really looking into it. I figure maybe after I graduate I could have more time and be a full member. I’ve read up on their organization and so far it sounds amazing. I mainly want to join because I enjoy volunteering. Generally in this program people go to another country to volunteer, I think it would be really cool and an awesome experience to visit a different country.
39. My favorite childhood toy was Barbie. I don’t know why. I really thought of her as my role model. And then I grew up and came to my senses that Barbie is a disgusting stereotype of what a woman “should be”, and the cause of eating disorders.
40. 40. I usually keep up with current events. I read the New York Times daily, I read magazines such as Life and Time, and take courses that address world issues such as International & Area Studies, which focuses on world history.
41. 41. I always try to know everything that is going on in my community, such as elections, demonstrations, rallies, entertainment, parades, receptions, and speeches. I go to local meetings and hearings concerning community problems, and I also read school bulletin boards that have notices on school events. The main way, though, that I find out about community news is through community service.
42. My biggest role model in the nation is definitely Joan Baez because I love her music but for the most part because she uses her fame to speak out against war; she is an independent, liberated, and outspoken entertainer. She is also very intellectual and she is a very influential activist/ feminist.
43. I can vote because I am over eighteen years old. The last time I voted was in 1972 for the democratic candidate, George McGovern. Unfortunately, he did not win the presidency.
44. The recent political event that pleases me the most is the creation of Environmental Protection Agency because its mission is protect human health and the natural environment. The EPA conducts research on environmental science and promotes education about the environment.
45.The recent political event that pleases me the least is the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Death Penalty is constitutional. I believe that no one deserves to die, even if they did kill someone else. How is it fair or constitutional to say that it is wrong for one person to be killed, and then kill the person that committed the murder?
46. My hero is Ralph Nader. He fights for everything I believe in with such determination, and he has had such a huge effect on out world today. He is a consumer advocate who is not afraid to piss people off, just as long as he is getting his points across. He has created so many organizations for the safety of the consumers of America. He has inspired such groups as Congress Watch, the Center for Responsive Law, Public Interest Research Groups, Public Citizen, the Center for Auto Safety, the National Insurance Consumer Organization, and the Health Research Group. I read his book Unsafe at Any Speed last year, and I was so inspired by the forcefulness with which he fought against the automobile industry and his unrelenting fights for the safety of the citizens of America.
47. To the younger generation, I would like to warn them not to fall victim of peer pressure. It is very important to stay true to yourself and to only do things for your own reasons. We have all gone to that party, tried that drug, or dressed to fit in. In the end, it really doesn’t matter if you fit in, it matters if you are happy and well adjusted. As for what I have to say to the older generation, I really don’t. I am about to graduate from college, I am an adult now, so I don’t really have any advice or anything to ask for from my elders.
48. I feel the world is neither changing too fast nor too slow, but instead it is going the only speed that it is supposed to. I think we should take life as it comes to us, one day at a time. The only way we can solve the problems of our world is to take them as they come, like jumping over hurtles. You can’t take them all at once, and although you anticipate the next hurdle, you can’t jump it until you get to it. I believe that although there will always be anticipation, impatience, or dread, there will always be a tomorrow.
49. My name is Nancy Parker, and I am twenty-one years old. I currently attend Berkeley University in Berkeley, California.
