TravelingEv
Armenia,
Female, 27
I live and work in Armenia as a computer teacher at a college in one of the regions (not the modern capital city). Peace Corps service is a 27 month commitment in a 3rd world or developing country. I teach computer teachers and students about basic computer maintenance; I also teach software programs like Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, Photoshop, and CorelDraw. Everything I do--from teaching, buying food, visiting friends--is done in Armenian, which I learned since I arrived in country.
There are many different ways to be successful in Peace Corps. Most of them involve general qualities like being flexible, patient, and understanding. To become accepted into Peace Corps, you should have a college degree, and interest in travel (it helps if you have actually been abroad), and a demonstrated willingness to serve others. (So go volunteer somewhere for awhile before you apply.) Once you are in Peace Corps, make an effort to go out and make friends, to learn the language, and to learn how the locals do things. Then create strategies to integrate your ways of helping into their culture.
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Congratulations on your acceptance!
Short version: It takes several weeks and about 4-5 pages of paperwork. If you're generally healthy, and you fill out the forms right the first time, I would guess a month, minimum.... Read further for more details.
They've changed the order of procedures a little bit since I got accepted into Peace Corps. It used to be that you had to pass all the medical stuff first, before you got accepted.
However, I think the medical process is still the same. You have to schedule a physical, and your doctor has to check a whole bunch of basic things about your health, which you should pass if you're generally healthy. You need a blood test, and maybe a few shots. (For example, I needed a polio booster shot.) The medical form is a few pages long. As long as you cross every t and dot every i, once you send it in, it's a few weeks of waiting. If you miss something, that slows the process significantly, so check and double-check every single line, and make sure you go through the entire thing with your doctor to make sure you have all the proper initials and signatures. If they contact you needing more information, take care of it as quickly as possible, so you don't slow things up on your end.
You also need to schedule a dental exam for full mouth x-rays and "dental probing." I had to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed, per Peace Corps requirements after they saw my x-rays.
I think my initial doctor visit was about 30 minutes and I had to go back once to get one more test--about 10 more minutes. My initial dental visit was also about 30 minutes (they check every single tooth and give it a grade). My wisdom teeth removal surgery was about 3 hours, plus a month of recovery. I went to the eye doctor's to order a second pair of glasses (Peace Corps rules), and spent about 30 minutes choosing frames. (I paid for everything out of pocket, as I didn't have health insurance.)
After I sent everything in, I had to wait about a month for them to get back to me, and then got conditional medical clearance (hinging on my wisdom teeth) about 1-2 months later, after I sent in the results of my second medical test.
I don't really know anything about the "legal" part. I don't remember filling out any paperwork for it. It seems like it all just happened behind the scenes as I was waiting, and I got clearance. (I could be mis-remembering; there were a lot of forms!)
Hope this helps!
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Yes, you can always back out, no matter what part of the process you are in. You can also explain your reasons for not wanting to go to a particular country, and Peace Corps can reassign you to a different country, as long as it's before you formally accept your invitation. Keep in mind that if you say no too many times, they will probably stop trying to find a good fit for you.
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Hi, Robert. I think your acceptance will depend on what your goals are for Peace Corps. Are you expecting to join before finishing your degree, and then come back and finish? Or are you hoping to be accepted and join Peace Corps immediately upon graduation? In my experience, it is very unusual for someone so young who doesn't have a college degree to be accepted into Peace Corps, unless they're accepted with the understanding that they won't leave until they graduate. Peace Corps does accept people without a 4 year degree, but they are usually much older and can demonstrate 10+ years of experience in their field.
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In case of certain emergencies, (such as the death of an immediate family member) Peace Corps will fly you home to be with your family. You have a certain amount of time you are able to be home, which you can extend if you still have vacation days to use up. If you want to stay longer than that amount of time, you will have to voluntarily terminate your service.
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It doesn't really matter what you're studying in college. Peace Corps takes people with a variety of backgrounds, and if your degree doesn't seem to fit any of their programs, you can always be an English teacher!
That said, I have a background in graphic design and marketing, which I never imagined would lead me to a related field in Peace Corps. But since I had enough experience working with computers, I ended up teaching computer classes in Armenia!
Also, you will become a volunteer, with a tentative job description written on paper, but that doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to that. You can do pretty much whatever you want in Peace Corps, as far as taking anything you know and teaching it to others.
So the short answer is, Yes. No matter what your degree, that sounds like a fit.
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I don't know exactly what the chances are of you getting a government/legal ed assignment in a cold country. That depends on which "cold" countries are looking for someone with your background and skills, and that could change from year to year.
What I can tell you is that when you apply for Peace Corps, you can state a preference for a region of the world, and you can let them know in your application where your skills lie, and they will try to match you up accordingly. This doesn't always work out the way you were hoping, but sometimes it can.
I would talk to a recruiter in your area to get more exact and up-to-date information regarding your preferences.
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