My Peace Corps Journey- So far (timeline included)

Today is the day I've been waiting for! I will get to Philadelphia and start training tomorrow. On Saturday, I will get on a flight from JFK to Belgrade, Serbia and then fly from there to Skopje, North Macedonia.

This has been a long time coming. I first applied to the Peace Corps in the fall of 2017. I had been looking at the postings out of curiosity, and I found one in Costa Rica that seemed absolutely perfect. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do the Peace Corps yet, but the deadline was fast approaching so I applied. I got an interview request, and through researching the position and the Peace Corps I became obsessed. I checked Peace Corps Reddit multiple times a day and refreshed my email constantly. By the time my interview rolled around, I had gone from not knowing if I wanted to even do the Peace Corps to it being the only thing I wanted to do after graduation. My interview went well, I really liked my interviewer and I felt happy with the way I had answered the questions. However, a good interview was not enough to get me the job, as a senior in college I just didn't have enough experience.

I was devastated! I knew that I would apply again, but it seemed so far away. I decided to do an Americorps program called City Year after graduation. It was really tough, but I'm so glad I did it. Apart from being super rewarding, I have so much more experience that I know will help me in the Peace Corps. I grew a lot, both personally and professionally. In the first month of City Year, I applied to the Peace Corps again. I couldn't decide which country or position to apply for so I decided  to apply to go anywhere. I realized that it was more important for me to volunteer than it was for me to pick the specific country. I made sure to emphasize my Spanish speaking ability on my resumé, and tailored it to education. A few weeks later I got an email that I was under consideration for the Youth in Development position in Guatemala. I was happy to have been placed in Latin America! Then I waited and waited and waited. I finally got an interview request at the end of November after not hearing anything since August. Since I had interviewed less than a year ago, I got to do a shorter interview. I honestly had no idea how it went, it was an absolute blur. At one point I was rambling and had to apologize to the interviewer for being so nervous. It must have went well though, because I got my invitation 5 days later.

I got all my legal and medical clearances, and was preparing to go to Guatemala. A month before we were supposed to leave, I got my plane tickets. Three weeks before I was supposed to leave, I got a call from the Peace Corps office. They asked me if I would consider switching to an education position in North Macedonia due to my experience in education and in Eastern Europe (if you know me you know I love Eastern Europe). My initial reaction was a visceral no. How could I switch when I had more than a year to get used to the idea of Guatemala? But after two days of careful consideration I decided to do it for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it was where I was needed the most, which was where I had originally applied. Now I've been spending the past 3 weeks researching North Macedonia and getting ready to leave. My boyfriend Danny came to visit, and we had a great time being tourists in Kentucky and saying goodbye to some of my favorite places and people.

Now the day I've waited so long for is finally here. I am so nervous but also so excited. I feel I am as ready for this as I am ever going to be. I could not have gotten here without all the wonderful people in my life. My parents have always supported me and helped me edit all the drafts of my application and resumé. My friends have been listening to me obsess over this for the past two years and have been so encouraging. My team at City Year helped me grow so much over the course of this past year.   My boyfriend has been my rock through all of this, and one of my biggest supporters. I was surprised when I got my invitation, but he wasn't,
because he had always believed in me. It's going to be so hard to be away from him, but we are going to make it work. Thank you so much to everyone, and if you are reading this, know that you probably helped me get here too, and I really appreciate you.

When I was researching, I looked obsessively at people's timelines so here's mine:


10/11/17- Application for Costa Rica Submitted

11/11/17- Under consideration/ Interview Request

11/13/17- Interview for Costa Rica

2/27/18- Rejected

8/12/18- Application to go Anywhere Submitted

8/19/18- Under review for Youth in Development Facilitator in Guatemala

10/10/18- Under Consideration for Youth in Development for Guatemala

11/27/18- Transcript Request (to prove I met the language requirement)

11/29/18- Interview Request

12/6/18- Interview and additional documents submitted

12/11/18- Invitation!!!

3/20/19- Legal clearance granted

3/22/19- Medical clearance granted

8/26/19- Asked to switch to North Macedonia

8/28/19- Switched to North Macedonia

9/19/19- Departed to Staging!

PS- If you want to join the Peace Corps or have any questions about the process, please let me know! I know a lot at this point and I would really love to help!