Saturday, February 2, 2008

The Beginning

So, most of you know that I will be leaving for Zambia on February 20th to begin my dream of becomming a Peace Corps Volunteer. I am SO excited. I don't know exactly what town I will be in yet, but I will be safe. Everyone can rest easy. Nonetheless, keep me in your prayers!!!



Aspiration Statement

Expectations of Peace Corps Service
I have worked in the field of Education for the past two years. However, I suspect that the tasks I will undertake as a volunteer in Zambia will be vastly different due to language and cultural differences. Nonetheless, whatever challenges I face, I am confident that I will be able to overcome them. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I have many expectations regarding working in the RED program as well as my working within the community at large. I expect to work more as a community organizer, so the skill-set I have to use will be different than working in a classroom environment. I will bring the skills and competency that I possess as a professional who has worked in the educational field as well as working in and living in various communities throughout my life, to my community as well as to the Ministry of Education. These skills include communicating effectively, using the technology that is available, problem solving and conflict resolution, and research and evaluation, as well as resource management. I also hope to achieve a sense of camaraderie with other Peace Corps volunteers—many of whom will likely experience many of the same challenges that I will face—and form a unified team for the betterment of the community, in which we will live and provide service.

Strategies for Adapting to a New Culture:
I intend to employ a number of valuable strategies in order to effectively meet the needs of my program. These include being open to new ideas and innovations, building trust between my colleagues and me, and acknowledging differences and conflicts in order to resolve them, instead of allowing difficulties to fester. I want to be in an open atmosphere that will enable me to bring my ideas to the table. In return, I intend to listen to others ideas, especially the host country members because they are more familiar with the country and its citizens. Working as a cohesive unit will be the best way to effectively assist the community.

I am excited about learning and living in a new culture. My own cultural background will inevitably be different from members of the new community that I will join. However, there is also a good chance that we have more in common than not. Being able to work well with the other volunteers and the community, as a whole, is my primary goal for my service; cultural adaptation is a prerequisite to my success on any of my projects. Therefore, I plan to be open to all aspects of my new community and culture. I acknowledge that I will make some mistakes, but I plan to learn and grow from the challenges that I will face during my time as a Peace Corps volunteer. I hope to approach difficulties with a sense of humor, refraining from taking myself so seriously that my confidence is shaken and my goals are not achieved. I also want to be a risk taker, unafraid of learning and trying new things, while keeping my mind open to new ways of thinking. Nonetheless, patience is my most important goal. I understand that it will take time for me to adapt to such a new environment, and success will come a little at a time. Through patience, I can cope with these new changes and effectively adapt to an exciting new lifestyle.

During pre-service training, I hope to gain enough knowledge about local languages that I will be able to communicate effectively in my community. I expect to learn about some of the cultural differences that I might encounter living in a new place.

Personal and Professional Goals:
The Peace Corps will greatly influence my personal and professional goals. Following my service, I hope to have gained many skills that I will continue to use throughout my life. Whether I decide to enroll in a graduate program or continue working in the field of Education, I plan on using the knowledge and experience gained in the Peace Corps throughout the rest of my life. I feel that Peace Corps service will assist me in gaining first-hand knowledge about international relations. Living in a global society affects each of us daily, and working internationally is my way of shaping the world that I live in, and helping to make it a world that everyone can flourish in.